Contempt of Court in Westborough Child Custody Cases in Worcester County
When there is an order relating to the custody and support of your children in place, you and your co-parent must abide by all the terms of the order, unless there is a written agreement between the two of you to modify it in some way.
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However, in some situations, there is not an agreement, and one parent may simply refuse to comply with the terms of the Judgment.
Common examples of possible violations include:
- Failing to pay court-ordered child support.
- Refusing to return your children at a designated time.
- Neglecting to take a child to their extracurricular activities.
When this occurs, the non-compliant parent may be held in contempt of court. If you are facing these proceedings or need help initiating them, do not hesitate to reach out to our extraordinary legal team. With over 35 combined years of exclusive family law experience, our team at O’Connor Family Law is prepared to advise and support you throughout this legal process.
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Filing for Contempt in Worcester
Being in contempt means that you (or your ex) have disregarded or disobeyed a prior order that was very clear without a reasonable explanation. Besides the fee for the summons, there is no filing charge associated with a contempt. Once you receive the summons on a contempt, you do need to pay a constable to serve the other parent of your child. This usually costs between $50 – $100. Many people are hesitant to move forward because they do not believe they can afford going back to court. If you qualify financially, you can file an affidavit of indigency, and the Court will waive the costs associated with the filing fee and the service.
For people who do not feel comfortable going at it alone, there are ways to utilize an attorney that may cost less than hiring one to represent you fully. Our team at O’Connor Family Law is able to represent people on this type of basis.
We do so by meeting with the person to:
- review their case
- helping them fill out paperwork
- help them understand how to present an argument to the Judge
Once the complaint for contempt is filed, your case is docketed with the court and assigned a hearing date. The court then sends you (or your attorney if you hired one to file on your behalf) the formal complaint and the summons. This then needs to be served on the other party within a certain period of time before the hearing. At a contempt hearing, a judge will listen to the evidence and determine whether the other party’s actions constitute contempt of court.
The evidence the filing party presents may consist of:
- their own testimony
- the testimony of any witnesses with personal knowledge of the other parent’s actions
- any documentation that demonstrates the violations of the court order
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Violating a Custody Order
There are various ways a parent in Worcester may violate a custody order and find themselves facing a petition for contempt of court. For instance, if your custody order includes a schedule and the other parent deliberately disregards it, this may warrant contempt.
Other examples of contemptuous interference with a custody schedule include:
- failing to return the children at the designated times and locations.
- signing them up for sports and other extracurricular activities during the other parent’s scheduled times without obtaining consent.
- refusing to allow the other parent to take the children for scheduled vacations.
The language of your prior Judgment is extremely important when determining whether there has been a contempt that took place. This is one reason it is important to have an experienced family law attorney draft or at least review any agreements that you come to and enter in court. The words used and sentence structure really does matter.
Interference With Legal Custody
In Massachusetts, if you have sole legal custody, you make the final decisions regarding your children’s education, medical, religious, and daycare needs. If your child’s other parent changes your child’s pediatrician, enrolls them in a specialized educational program, or hires a new daycare provider without your knowledge or consent, this parent may be in contempt.
Failure to Pay Child Support
Most custody orders contain a provision directing the one parent to pay a certain amount of child support each week or month. If your co-parent has been ordered to pay support and is not doing so or consistently makes late payments without any justifiable reason, those missed or late payments may constitute contempt.
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