Oregon Family Law/Small Claims?

oregon

my ex wife did not send my kids on the plane tickets that i bought last summer and i was forced to buy new plane tickets. i am out about $800. we were in middle of a new visitation modification and the judge didnt want to discuss the fees from that behavior. Can I take her to small claims court instead for the fees? or did I lose it when the judge said he didnt want to discuss it?

My guess is that the judge didn't want to discuss a possible contempt issue because you hadn't filed a motion on that issue.

You were there on another issue, for which I assume a petition had been filed by either your ex or by you.

Judges will allow hearings on the actual issues formally before the court, not a laundry list of other grievances that you might also want covered just because you happen to be there in court that day.

Otherwise, court turns into a free-for-all.

If you want the ticket issue addressed by the court, you have to file a petition on the contempt issue and have a hearing on that issue.

I would suggest that route now, other than small-claims court.

Next time, however, when you have a hearing already set and you have a potential contempt issue, file your motion on the contempt and ask that the hearing on your contempt issue be held at the same time as the already existing hearing. That saves you AND the court time and effort and follows the rules that need to be followed.

Hope this information is helpful to you.