Contempt of Divorce

[Momof3girls1]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? OH
I am in a situation where my ex husband is trying to hold me in contempt of our divorce for a car loan that we had agreed I would take over but then he didnt pay child support and I defaulted and the car was repossed. He is now (3 years later) still owes me about $10,000 in back child support, taking me to court stating I am in comtempt of the divorce and I owe the $3,000 for the car. Has anyone been in this situation? I do not have the funds to pay off the car and am at a loss on what to do?

 

[single317dad]

Did you ever take him back to court on the child support issue?

Personally, I would file a show cause on his overdue support. While you're both in the wrong for failing to abide by the court's order, his indiscretion will look look much worse. To simply bring up his failure to pay as a defense at your hearing is not proper procedure and won't be effective. You need to plan ahead and follow the rules.

http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/LegalResources/Rules/

Think about the time since the divorce. Though money has surely been tight, has there been any way you could have complied with the order? Be honest in your self-assessment here, it's important.

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? OH
I am in a situation where my ex husband is trying to hold me in contempt of our divorce for a car loan that we had agreed I would take over but then he didnt pay child support and I defaulted and the car was repossed. He is now (3 years later) still owes me about $10,000 in back child support, taking me to court stating I am in comtempt of the divorce and I owe the $3,000 for the car. Has anyone been in this situation? I do not have the funds to pay off the car and am at a loss on what to do?

His not paying child support has nothing to do with you defaulting on the car loan. You both are in contempt of the divorce decree. And a judge could penalize you for it. Especially if your defaulting on the car loan harmed your ex's credit. Was there a hold harmless clause in your decree? What about a clause to indemnify your ex? Are you working? Do you have a vehicle now?

And the other poster is incorrect -- being behind on child support will not necessarily be seen as more serious as defaulting. You are both in the wrong.

 

[LdiJ]

His not paying child support has nothing to do with you defaulting on the car loan. You both are in contempt of the divorce decree. And a judge could penalize you for it. Especially if your defaulting on the car loan harmed your ex's credit. Was there a hold harmless clause in your decree? What about a clause to indemnify your ex? Are you working? Do you have a vehicle now?

And the other poster is incorrect -- being behind on child support will not necessarily be seen as more serious as defaulting. You are both in the wrong.

eh...they are both in the wrong but seriously? "Your honor, I could have paid the car payments had he paid his child support"...when his child support was clearly much greater than the car payments? Of course one party doesn't have the right to breech the agreement just because the other party also defaults, but that doesn't mean that the judge isn't going to take the totality of the situation into consideration.

 

[Zigner]

Request that the $3k that you didn't pay be applied as credit towards his past-due obligations.

 

[Ohiogal]

eh...they are both in the wrong but seriously? "Your honor, I could have paid the car payments had he paid his child support"...when his child support was clearly much greater than the car payments? Of course one party doesn't have the right to breech the agreement just because the other party also defaults, but that doesn't mean that the judge isn't going to take the totality of the situation into consideration.

The judge cannot take the totality of the situation into consideration quite frankly. Why did she wait until he was 10k behind on child support? Why didn't she file contempt against him sooner? Why is he so far behind. Oh and totality also means that the harm to HIS credit for her default can be taken into consideration. What you stated is an excuse -- not a reason. I want answers to my questions. I asked them for a reason and -- oh yeah -- this is in Ohio. You know -- the state in which I practice and I -- believe or not -- have had cases similar to this. Guess what? Two wrongs don't make a right. She can be found in contempt as can he. They both can be found in contempt because they are separate parts of the court order. Unless there is a clause stating that she only has to pay if he pays child support, that is not an excuse. I stand by what I said.

Dad also however could face felony non-support charges.

 

[LdiJ]

The judge cannot take the totality of the situation into consideration quite frankly. Why did she wait until he was 10k behind on child support? Why didn't she file contempt against him sooner? Why is he so far behind. Oh and totality also means that the harm to HIS credit for her default can be taken into consideration. What you stated is an excuse -- not a reason. I want answers to my questions. I asked them for a reason and -- oh yeah -- this is in Ohio. You know -- the state in which I practice and I -- believe or not -- have had cases similar to this. Guess what? Two wrongs don't make a right. She can be found in contempt as can he. They both can be found in contempt because they are separate parts of the court order. Unless there is a clause stating that she only has to pay if he pays child support, that is not an excuse. I stand by what I said.

Dad also however could face felony non-support charges.

The bolded is a perfect example of what I was talking about. The judge decides the punishment for the contempt...for both of them. The judge also decides how the contempt will be ordered to be resolved. That is what I meant by taking the totality of the situation into consideration.

 

[Ohiogal]

The bolded is a perfect example of what I was talking about. The judge decides the punishment for the contempt...for both of them. The judge also decides how the contempt will be ordered to be resolved. That is what I meant by taking the totality of the situation into consideration.

WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. The judge does not determine that dad will face felony nonsupport charges. A grand jury decides that. And the prosecutor is the one who decides whether to approach the grand jury to have dad indicted for felony non support. The judge has NOTHING to do with it. Furthermore, domestic relations judges do not determine criminal outcomes. The same judge would NOT hear felony non support AND contempt of a child support order.

The judge also determines according to statute how to resolve the contempt. Statute allows for a PURGE period but if contempt is not purged, then the person in contempt spends time in jail. The judge does not have discretion to determine other punishments due to the fact that there is caselaw stating that punishments are statutory. The judge may have discretion in how long a purge period to allow AND how many days to sentence on the contempt up to a maximum. But there is not a lot of discretion apart from that.

Ld, you are just totally wrong in this situation.

 

[Ladyback1]

Why did she wait until he was 10k behind on child support? Why didn't she file contempt against him sooner?

^^^^^^^^^
This is my question.

 

[I'mTheFather]

Unless she comes back to clarify, we don't know whether or not she's done anything about the nonpayment of child support.