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Contempt of Court - ex violating divorce decree

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Cromos

Junior Member
I live in California, but the divorce took place in Texas. My ex has multiple violations against the decree, and I need to file contempt on her. I have searched the internet for a blank form for me to use to file, but I couldn't find anything without paying for it. I'm currently unemployed, so cost is I'd like to avoid.

Here's the situation:
A month ago, my ex informed me that she could not pay for her cell phone until she received my child support check. Without a phone, I couldn't talk to my kids. It is completely her responsibility to provide me access to my kids. And for the record, my child support is current. Now, even though my child support has gone through a few weeks ago, I still have not talked to my kids through her phone. The last couple weeks, I was able to talk to my kids when they were over my mom's house. I also learned that she has a "work" phone, which she uses to contact people that she needs to talk to, just like a regular cell phone, but she refuses to give me this number. If you have a cell phone that you call my mom to see if she can watch the kids, then that is NOT a work phone. Her other phone still functions, she just powers it off so I can't call or text, and she only turns it on to send me a quick text when she needs something (like money for the kids' medical copays), but then turns it off immediately again before I can call or reply. Also, her voice mailbox for the phone number I do have is full, so I can't leave any more messages (as if she is checking them anyway). She claims that she will let the kids use her phone when they want to talk...but in the last month, that has conveniently been zero times. I'm sure she has everything to do with that. When they are at my mom's house, they ask every time to talk to me.

Any legal advice that you can give me would be extremely helpful, and if you have a contempt of court form that you can send me, or know of one online, I would greatly appreciate it.

Another thing, if I file contempt, does it have to go through the same court as my divorce decree, or can I file here in California?
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
I live in California, but the divorce took place in Texas. My ex has multiple violations against the decree, and I need to file contempt on her. I have searched the internet for a blank form for me to use to file, but I couldn't find anything without paying for it. I'm currently unemployed, so cost is I'd like to avoid.

Here's the situation:
A month ago, my ex informed me that she could not pay for her cell phone until she received my child support check. Without a phone, I couldn't talk to my kids. It is completely her responsibility to provide me access to my kids. And for the record, my child support is current. Now, even though my child support has gone through a few weeks ago, I still have not talked to my kids through her phone. The last couple weeks, I was able to talk to my kids when they were over my mom's house. I also learned that she has a "work" phone, which she uses to contact people that she needs to talk to, just like a regular cell phone, but she refuses to give me this number. If you have a cell phone that you call my mom to see if she can watch the kids, then that is NOT a work phone. Her other phone still functions, she just powers it off so I can't call or text, and she only turns it on to send me a quick text when she needs something (like money for the kids' medical copays), but then turns it off immediately again before I can call or reply. Also, her voice mailbox for the phone number I do have is full, so I can't leave any more messages (as if she is checking them anyway). She claims that she will let the kids use her phone when they want to talk...but in the last month, that has conveniently been zero times. I'm sure she has everything to do with that. When they are at my mom's house, they ask every time to talk to me.

Any legal advice that you can give me would be extremely helpful, and if you have a contempt of court form that you can send me, or know of one online, I would greatly appreciate it.

Another thing, if I file contempt, does it have to go through the same court as my divorce decree, or can I file here in California?
I dunno dad...while it absolutely is her responsibility to provide access to the children, its also your responsibility to pay your child support in a timely manner.

If you were not paying support for a while, that could have messed up her budget enough that she had a hard time making a phone available. Also, while she might be able to do quick personal calls on a work phone, its likely that she cannot use it for extensive calls between you and the children...or extensive texting/calls between you and her.

I am not at all sure that you are going to prevail on this one...and NO, you absolutely CANNOT file anything in CA. You have to file in TX.

Also, she could really use the fact that the children spend time with your mom and can access you via phone there, as an additional defense.

If she was REALLY trying to keep you away from your children, she wouldn't be letting your mom have time with the children either.
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
I dunno dad...while it absolutely is her responsibility to provide access to the children, its also your responsibility to pay your child support in a timely manner.

If you were not paying support for a while, that could have messed up her budget enough that she had a hard time making a phone available. Also, while she might be able to do quick personal calls on a work phone, its likely that she cannot use it for extensive calls between you and the children...or extensive texting/calls between you and her.

I am not at all sure that you are going to prevail on this one...and NO, you absolutely CANNOT file anything in CA. You have to file in TX.

Also, she could really use the fact that the children spend time with your mom and can access you via phone there, as an additional defense.

If she was REALLY trying to keep you away from your children, she wouldn't be letting your mom have time with the children either.
I'm not sure it really matters. Unless the decree says she has to keep active phone service, I'm not sure why it would be contempt if she doesn't have an active phone.
 

Cromos

Junior Member
I dunno dad...while it absolutely is her responsibility to provide access to the children, its also your responsibility to pay your child support in a timely manner.

If you were not paying support for a while, that could have messed up her budget enough that she had a hard time making a phone available. Also, while she might be able to do quick personal calls on a work phone, its likely that she cannot use it for extensive calls between you and the children...or extensive texting/calls between you and her.

I am not at all sure that you are going to prevail on this one...and NO, you absolutely CANNOT file anything in CA. You have to file in TX.

Also, she could really use the fact that the children spend time with your mom and can access you via phone there, as an additional defense.

If she was REALLY trying to keep you away from your children, she wouldn't be letting your mom have time with the children either.
I pay child support every month, and I don't have a past due balance. I'm sure this is just another step in her attempt to remove me from the picture completely...she's attempted countless times already. And her phone isn't one that a company would issue to an employee; this is a cell phone that she is paying for because she gets better reception in her area. She just calls it her work phone because she uses it to get calls for side jobs.
 

Cromos

Junior Member
I'm not sure it really matters. Unless the decree says she has to keep active phone service, I'm not sure why it would be contempt if she doesn't have an active phone.
I'll have to read the decree again, but I know it says she has to provide me access to my kids. I know it talks about phone calls, email (which she doesn't have internet), text messages (again with the phone), and some other stuff. Once I read it, I can give you exact verbiage.
 

CourtClerk

Senior Member
Good luck in PROVING that it's not her work phone, and if it's her business phone, you are not entitled to that number, nor would I give it to you.

However, file for contempt if you think this is the hill to die on. You can't do it in CA.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Sounds like you're the one who moved out of state, so if there's someone to blame for being out of the picture, that someone would be you.
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
I'll have to read the decree again, but I know it says she has to provide me access to my kids. I know it talks about phone calls, email (which she doesn't have internet), text messages (again with the phone), and some other stuff. Once I read it, I can give you exact verbiage.
The exact wording will be important. Generally, the wording is such that if they have a phone, they have to let the kids use it. That's not the same as requiring them to have a phone (or internet or a phone that does texting).
 

Cromos

Junior Member
Sounds like you're the one who moved out of state, so if there's someone to blame for being out of the picture, that someone would be you.
There are far too many things going on that you don't know about to make uneducated assumptions (the first 3 letters being exactly what you are). Why don't you keep rude comments that don't pertain to this case to yourself. You should be a contributing member to this community, and not run around bashing people.
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
There are far too many things going on that you don't know about to make uneducated assumptions (the first 3 letters being exactly what you are). Why don't you keep rude comments that don't pertain to this case to yourself. You should be a contributing member to this community, and not run around bashing people.


And you expect to receive assistance?
 

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