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Contempt of Purge Agreement - Hearing Tomorrow

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GoingNutsinPA

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? PA/Allegheny County

Hello everyone! I'm happy to have found this forum! Nice to meet you all! I hope you all can help me, I know you cannot forsee the future and tell me what a judge will order, I would just like to know the probability...

My ex has his 4th contempt hearing for support. The last contempt hearing, he did not show up, had a warrant issued for his arrest, after several attempts, the sheriff finally found him at his house and had him spend 2 1/2 days in jail, he paid $500 to get out (he owes $25,000+ on the order) and was ordered to pay a purge every month in full.

He hasn't paid a dime since he agreed to the purge. In fact, it has been just about 5 months since he has made a support payment and we have a new hearing tomorrow for failure to pay on a purge and non-payment of support. He started having income attachments on 4/2 and then they were terminated on 4/20. So now he has no job at all.

A few questions:

I didn't turn him in and neither did his first wife, did the court make this hearing on their own since he is on purge?

What are the chances that he goes back to jail this time since it is a purge contempt?

And if I really push the issue of how I have been assuming 100% financial responsibility, how he refuses to buy the children shoes, take them for haircuts, buy them clothes...would the hearing officer take this into consideration for his decision on another jail term?

I'm so sick of this! And he always gets a slap on the hand, then he is told don't do it again, go find a job and goes on his merry little way. This is what he does and I can't understand how these hearing officers do not realize this pattern that has been going on for 10 years. He gets a job, quits when support finds him or works long enough to be eligible for unemployment, finds a way to get fired to collect and works under the table. Gets hearing notice for failure to pay supprt, finds an over-the-table job long enough to make it through the hearing, says, "I'm working, can't pay if I'm in jail" and they send him home, he quits his job that day and does the entire cycle all over again.

When is it going to be enough? Like I mentioned above, he finally went to jail for 2 1/2 days, he obviously did not learn his lesson since he didn't pay one cent towards his purge, he is not working now...what are the chances he goes back? I know of a guy in our neighborhood who was just sentenced to 6 months in jail for support...could this be where my ex is headed?

Thanks all for your help. Like I said, I know you cannot tell me what a judge will order, I just want to know the chances!
 


GrowUp!

Senior Member
I didn't turn him in and neither did his first wife, did the court make this hearing on their own since he is on purge?
What does the Order for Hearing say? Someone started the suit.

What are the chances that he goes back to jail this time since it is a purge contempt?
50/50.

And if I really push the issue of how I have been assuming 100% financial responsibility, how he refuses to buy the children shoes, take them for haircuts, buy them clothes...would the hearing officer take this into consideration for his decision on another jail term?
This has nothing to do with paying child support. Unless it's in the court order, he is not legally obligated to do any of that stuff. :rolleyes: The issue at hand is the failure to follow a court order, that being paying child support.

I'm so sick of this! And he always gets a slap on the hand, then he is told don't do it again, go find a job and goes on his merry little way. This is what he does and I can't understand how these hearing officers do not realize this pattern that has been going on for 10 years.
SO how many times, besides the previous one you mentioned, this has been brought to the court's attention via a contempt hearing?

He gets a job, quits when support finds him or works long enough to be eligible for unemployment, finds a way to get fired to collect and works under the table. Gets hearing notice for failure to pay supprt, finds an over-the-table job long enough to make it through the hearing, says, "I'm working, can't pay if I'm in jail" and they send him home, he quits his job that day and does the entire cycle all over again.
Unfortunately, a lot of obligors do this. If one is hellbent on avoiding to pay child support, they will. That is why people are told time and time again that CS should not be depended on.

When is it going to be enough? Like I mentioned above, he finally went to jail for 2 1/2 days, he obviously did not learn his lesson since he didn't pay one cent towards his purge, he is not working now...what are the chances he goes back? I know of a guy in our neighborhood who was just sentenced to 6 months in jail for support...could this be where my ex is headed?
He very well could. What is your lawyer pushing for? Quite honestly, if he didn't learn his lesson, that will tell the Judge all they need to know. That should also tell YOU that you should just start to accept the fact that he will not pay, unfortunately.
 

GoingNutsinPA

Junior Member
The order has two boxes checked:

Failure to pay support
Failure to pay purge in full every month

(He hasn't paid a dime in 5 months, since he got out of jail)

His first wife started the first order. Then he cheated on her and had a child with another woman, so she filed for support. When I divorced him 4 years ago, I started a support order. But not one of us called in to support to turn him in for failure to pay. Which is why we are all stumped on how the hearing happened. I just figured since he is on purge, it automatically generated.

LOL! I like that! 50/50 is better than nothing!

This will be a total of 5 contempts on my case alone. There were probably 5-6 more on the earlier cases with his first wife and the other woman.

I do not have a lawyer, I'm a single mom and assume 100% financial responsibility for our children, I barely have 2 nickels to rub together on payday after paying the bills and buying food. He never pays his support, he hasn't paid for more than 3 months steady since I filed, in fact, he paid a total of 5 months support in 4 years.

I've already accepted the fact he will not pay. I've accepted that when I was married to him and saw him do this with his first wife. I filed to get it when he does get a job. I have been paying for our kids all this time, I'm just getting jacked off. He lives with his gf and her 2 kids and those kids have the best of everything and when it is time to pay for our kids, he refuses.
 

GrowUp!

Senior Member
The order has two boxes checked:

Failure to pay support
Failure to pay purge in full every month

(He hasn't paid a dime in 5 months, since he got out of jail)
Well then you should call the court to find out who initiated the suit.

His first wife started the first order. Then he cheated on her and had a child with another woman, so she filed for support. When I divorced him 4 years ago, I started a support order. But not one of us called in to support to turn him in for failure to pay. Which is why we are all stumped on how the hearing happened. I just figured since he is on purge, it automatically generated.
This will be a total of 5 contempts on my case alone. There were probably 5-6 more on the earlier cases with his first wife and the other woman.
Each of your cases are separate. Even if one of you initiated action, it would be in regards to their own case, not both. Her case is irrelevant to yours and vice versa. It could be that purged cases get generated...it depends on the local rules of the court and/or poss. state statutes.

I've already accepted the fact he will not pay. I've accepted that when I was married to him and saw him do this with his first wife.
And this says alot because you saw what he did to his first wife, but you still had children with him.
You need to find out who initiated the action because you don't want to go in there unprepared. There should be a certificate of service showing who was served the notice. There has to be more than just you and your ex. Possibly the county prosecutor and/or your CSEA if your order is through them.
 

GoingNutsinPA

Junior Member
I've left 6 messages on their voicemail in the past 2 weeks and no one has called back. We will be in court tomorrow, so I will find out then.

The order states:

Continued Rule Dissertation for PACSES Case #IDNUMBERHERE.

The petition for contempt generated 1/20/05 and most recently continued from 1/3/07 is to be addressed at the time and date ordered for:

Failing to pay as ordered
Failing to meet the following purge conditions: Pay every month without missing payments.

And yes, I married him, but I wasn't aware of how irresponsible he was with support until after our marriage because it was none of my business. I never attended a support hearing with him and his first wife and I didn't even know about the other woman until 3 years into our marriage, it was a secret. In fact, his first wife was the one who told me about it. But again, it was not my business, that was between him and her and it was not my place to get involved you know?

Thanks for everything by the way. I really appreciate your advice.
 

GrowUp!

Senior Member
I've left 6 messages on their voicemail in the past 2 weeks and no one has called back. We will be in court tomorrow, so I will find out then.

The order states:

Continued Rule Dissertation for PACSES Case #IDNUMBERHERE.

The petition for contempt generated 1/20/05 and most recently continued from 1/3/07 is to be addressed at the time and date ordered for:

Failing to pay as ordered
Failing to meet the following purge conditions: Pay every month without missing payments.
Well to me, that (the bolded) tells you what it's about there. While the court might have the information, you do not want to assume they do so bring everything between the last court date where he was to purge and pay ordered amount and the hearing date that is sked that shows his payment history (or lack thereof), etc. If your case is through CSEA, then get a printout from them to show the history.
 

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