contempt charge thrown out

[hearttornfl1]

What is the name of your state?Florida

Went to court - ex filed contempt due to arrearages. Judge threw out the charge and said there was no contempt. Asked us to return for a shorter hearing in 15 days, in order to give enough time for me to collect documentation (proof of payments to him in previous years) to get a sum to credit to me for payments already made.
His attorney did not reschedule a hearing and it's been 2 months since the original hearing. He sent me a letter saying "the courts have no right to credit you for payments already made" and that unless i give a settlement offer he's going to go for a "re-hearing"... can this attorney say the judge or the court "has no right" - what can I do to get back with the judge on this?
Are my ex and his attorney in contempt? Since then he has moved and I have had no contact with my daughter since the hearing...

 

[Gracie3787]

What is the name of your state?Florida

Went to court - ex filed contempt due to arrearages. Judge threw out the charge and said there was no contempt. Asked us to return for a shorter hearing in 15 days, in order to give enough time for me to collect documentation (proof of payments to him in previous years) to get a sum to credit to me for payments already made.
His attorney did not reschedule a hearing and it's been 2 months since the original hearing. He sent me a letter saying "the courts have no right to credit you for payments already made" and that unless i give a settlement offer he's going to go for a "re-hearing"... can this attorney say the judge or the court "has no right" - what can I do to get back with the judge on this?
Are my ex and his attorney in contempt? Since then he has moved and I have had no contact with my daughter since the hearing...

His attorney is trying to bully you into a lump sum payment- 1. the court DOES have the right to credit you for payments made, AND the attorney KNOWS that ONLY the court can give you credit- 2. he CANNOT go for a rehearing because more than 10 days has passed since the other hearing.

Was there any kind of order or transcript of the hearing when the Judge said to come back in 15 days? If so, then you can simply go to clerks' office, show the order and request a hearing date to be set.

Your ex's attorney isn't in contempt, however according to your other posts your ex is in contempt for moving without giving you or the court his address.
Have you followed up on any of the advice given in your other threads?

 

[hearttornfl1]

strung out

Im not certain if there was a transcript of the hearing or not... where could i find this out? Also I have scrubbed over the original dissolution and only found specific language as to notification of the change of address to the courts within 10 days. These documents were filed in 97 by ourselves with no attorneys (this divorce was amicable back then!) Since that time we have moved several times and Im quite certain that both of us have moved without notification to the courts within that time frame.
I would file for mediation but all my ex and his attorney want is money money money.
My ex did let my daughter call me this past Thurs but she told me that she had to let me know that the call was being recorded. He was recording our conversation! I hadn't spoken to her in almost 2 months! She told me her address and phone number - turns out he moved to entirely diff county and registered her in school there without my knowledge or consent. Im so strung out - what can I do?

 

[dallas702]

Call the court clerk's office. ALL court proceedings are either videotaped or transcribed. Some states do both. You can get a copy of the tape or transciption by requesting it. You don't need a lawyer for this.

 

[legalcuriosity]

OR some Courts audio record them. If that is the case, you'll have to call and obtain a copy of the tape and then have someone (NOT YOU) transcribe the tape. The Court may have someone "in house" who might be able to do this, most likely for a charge.

 

[BL]

I'm not sure if your Courts do it , but some Judges fill out a record ( form ) of proceedings ( for that particular day/hearing ) .

See if yours does by asking the court's clerk/records dept.

If so, it should note the rescedual info.

 

[Gracie3787]

Call the court clerk's office. ALL court proceedings are either videotaped or transcribed. Some states do both. You can get a copy of the tape or transciption by requesting it. You don't need a lawyer for this.

Unfortunately, most of the Florida family courts do NOT video tape, audio tape, or record (by court reporter) ANY family court proceedings. One of the parties have to hire a recorder on thier own, pay for the recorder and the trabscript for BOTH parties. Nice huh?

This is one of the reasons that so many Judges in Florida get away with such biased and unfair decisions. The party who was wronged cannot get an appeal heard WITHOUT a transcript.

 

[hearttornfl1]

"Re-Hearing" Filed

My ex's attorney apparently filed a Request for A "Re-Hearing". In this request he even said the "court had no right to give credits for payments already made outside the disbursement unit" even though the judge ruled otherwise.
I feel "bullied" and harrassed about this whole situation. Could the courts actually consider a "re-hearing" on this or is there a statute of limitations? Also could I bring up the fact that he moved without contacting me for over a month and a half - and when he did finally have my daughter call me she told me our conversation was "being recorded". I was livid. Can he do this?

 

[dallas702]

Gracie;

That couldn't possibly be right (could it?) that any court could have proceedings without keeping a written or recorded record of those proceedings. How could anyone appeal decisions if there is no recoring of the testimony and evidence???

 

[Gracie3787]

My ex's attorney apparently filed a Request for A "Re-Hearing". In this request he even said the "court had no right to give credits for payments already made outside the disbursement unit" even though the judge ruled otherwise.
I feel "bullied" and harrassed about this whole situation. Could the courts actually consider a "re-hearing" on this or is there a statute of limitations? Also could I bring up the fact that he moved without contacting me for over a month and a half - and when he did finally have my daughter call me she told me our conversation was "being recorded". I was livid. Can he do this?

I don't know why, but I've typed replies twice and both times they wouldn't post, so I'll try again.

Go to http://phonl.com/fl_law/rules/frcp/ to find Fl Rule of Civil Procedure 1.530 which governs motions for rehearings.

A motion cannot be heard if it is served/filed later than 10 days after a judgement was entered. If it has been more than 10 days you can use the defense that the motion wasn't timely filed.

The issue about moving isn't relevant to any hearing on CS payments, so you would need to file a contempt motion on that ( IF the court order states that each party must inform the other about moves and addresses).

In Fl. any recordings of phone conversations that are not consented to cannot be used in court, and without consent are also illegal. So they won't do him any good.
Gracie

 

[Gracie3787]

Gracie;

That couldn't possibly be right (could it?) that any court could have proceedings without keeping a written or recorded record of those proceedings. How could anyone appeal decisions if there is no recoring of the testimony and evidence???

Unfortunately that is correct, there isn't any law in Fl. that requires a court to keep ANY records of FAMILY COURT hearings, other than the actual orders. Virtually none of the circuits have any audio or court recorder recordings automatically available. However, some, like the ninth circuit have a one page "record" where the Judge's or hearing officer's secretary makes notes of the basics- such as who appeared, and what was ordered, but those are useless for appeals or anything else. Worse, the tenth circuit just has a computer generated "record" stating that a hearing occured on such and such date. Wonderful, huh?

About 3 years ago I contacted a couple of state senators about making a law, but nothing ever came of it. It's very sad, because someone who needs to file an appeal cannot do so, because they can't prove anything about what was or wasn't said in court. And of course, when someone files for a hearing, they are never told that there won't be any record of the hearing.

I hope that some day the laws will change to require actual records, or at least it should be mandatory that people should be informed that there won't be any record and that they have the right to hire a court reporter if they wish. But the way it is now, a person who didn't get a fair hearing doesn't learn until it's too late.
Gracie

 

[Zephyr]

Im not certain if there was a transcript of the hearing or not... where could i find this out? Also I have scrubbed over the original dissolution and only found specific language as to notification of the change of address to the courts within 10 days. These documents were filed in 97 by ourselves with no attorneys (this divorce was amicable back then!) Since that time we have moved several times and Im quite certain that both of us have moved without notification to the courts within that time frame.
I would file for mediation but all my ex and his attorney want is money money money.
My ex did let my daughter call me this past Thurs but she told me that she had to let me know that the call was being recorded. He was recording our conversation! I hadn't spoken to her in almost 2 months! She told me her address and phone number - turns out he moved to entirely diff county and registered her in school there without my knowledge or consent. Im so strung out - what can I do?

what type of custody do you have now? joint? what does your order say about decision making as far as school? does either party have final say?

what is the visitation arrangemnt? and dad has withheld visitation?

you may have 2 items for contempt issues right there.

I don't think a child can consent to having their phone calls recorded and I don't think one parent can record the child's calls to another parent, he may have actually broken the law on that one.

is there any way for you to get an attorney to help you through this?

 

[BL]

However, some, like the ninth circuit have a one page "record" where the Judge's or hearing officer's secretary makes notes of the basics- such as who appeared, and what was ordered, but those are useless for appeals or anything else.

In my State that is what is called the record of proceeding , I was referring to . Here anyways they reschedule that hearing before you leave the Court .

If by chance there was one , and it noted a rehearing in 15 days , and that proceeding never took place , it could give some leverage , how much who knows , at least to get the Court to take note of payments made .

 

[Gracie3787]

In my State that is what is called the record of proceeding , I was referring to . Here anyways they reschedule that hearing before you leave the Court .

If by chance there was one , and it noted a rehearing in 15 days , and that proceeding never took place , it could give some leverage , how much who knows , at least to get the Court to take note of payments made .

Yeah, it might say something on that about another hearing, so OP should check into it.

As I was rereading this whole thread, something occured to me. OP said that the Judge "threw out" the contempt charge, but said that there should be another, shorter hearing in 15 days to allow OP to get documentation of payments made.

OP (and me) have been viewing this as the Judge has already ordered that credit be given for those payments, BUT, has the court actually ordered that credit be given?

If I'm now reading this correctly, OP will not be allowed credit UNTIL that second hearing occurs. Am I correct in this? If I am, then it seems that it would be in OP's best interests to have the ordered hearing, even if it listed as a "rehearing".

Am I correct, or am I way off base?
Gracie

 

[hearttornfl1]

hard to focus

This whole CS situation is a mess. My ex took me to court for arrears that I didn't pay for 5 years, some time ago. One year before my ex decided money was needed and asked me for it and I paid directly to my ex for over a year. Then the ex remarried - and asked me to start paying through the courts but told me not to worry about the arrears. When I wanted to go with the ex to arrange a settlement offer to file with the courts, the ex changed his mind 360 degrees and next thing I know filed the contempt charge and cut off all communication with me regarding our daughter.
I am honestly convinced that because of the court's decision to throw out the contempt charge the ex decided to cut back on the visitation and to move over 90 miles away. And apparently can't afford to pay the attorney that represented my ex - and when the judge ruled I didnt have to pay that attorney now I'm being harrased.
Honestly I am at my wit's end. I miss my daughter so much. I have an attorney but I am out of money - I simply can't afford to retain a lawyer for a CS hearing or even what I most desperately want - a visitation hearing or motion for contempt against the ex regarding the move, placing her in a 2nd rate school without my consent and recording my calls with her.
What am I to do? It's so hard to focus..