Holding Parties Accountable and Enforcing Your Legal Court Orders
Finalizing a divorce, custody case, or support order is supposed to bring peace of mind. However, if your former spouse refuses to follow the rules set by the judge, your financial stability and parental relationship are put at risk. At the Law Offices of Renée Safier Harris, PLLC, we help you take a stand when the other party violates the court’s direction. With over 32 years of experience in South Florida family law, we build a clear legal strategy to bring your case back to court, force compliance, and protect the agreements you worked hard to secure.
If you’re considering a divorce or need legal guidance, reach out online or call (561)404-9710.
The Law Offices of Renée Safier Harris, PLLC has years of experience in enforcement proceedings and contempt proceedings in South Florida.
Understanding Enforcement and Legal Contempt
A family court order is not a suggestion. It is a binding legal directive that must be followed completely. When a parent or former spouse ignores a judge’s order, you have the legal right to ask the court for help. This process is called filing a motion for enforcement or contempt. Our legal team reviews your current decree or temporary order to find clear proof of the violation. We then build a strategy to compel the other party to comply and fix the financial or parental damage they have caused.
Orders We Can Help You Enforce
Alimony Enforcement
If your former spouse stops sending spousal support payments, we can ask a judge to enter a judgment for the past-due amount and garnish their income streams directly.
Timesharing Compliance
When a parent continuously refuses to return the children on time, denies your scheduled visits, or cuts off communication, we take action to recover missed time.
Child Support Collection
We work with the court to deal with unpaid child support. A judge can suspend driver’s licenses, seize tax refunds, or place liens on personal property to recover the funds.
Property Division Orders
If your final divorce decree required your ex-spouse to transfer a property deed, divide a retirement account, or sell an asset, we force them to complete the transaction.
What Happens in a Contempt Proceeding?
Filing for contempt requires specific legal steps to prove the other party is intentionally violating a clear order. Our team handles the intense documentation required to build a solid case. When your enforcement action goes before a South Florida judge, the process focuses on proving several key items:
- Showing that a valid, clear court order was actively in place at the time of the violation.
- Proving that the other party had full knowledge of the rules written in that order.
- Providing evidence that the other party failed to follow the rules intentionally.
- Showing that the violating party has the actual financial or physical ability to comply.
- Asking the judge to order the violating party to pay your attorney fees and court costs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Court Enforcement in Boca Raton
Civil contempt is remedial and used to compel compliance with an order. If a judge finds a party in civil contempt for unpaid support, they must provide a “purge amount,” which is a specific sum of money the party can pay to instantly clear the contempt and avoid jail time. Criminal contempt is punitive and designed to punish a party for an intentional, disrespectful violation of the court’s authority, often resulting in fixed jail sentences without a purge option.
No. Under Florida family law, child support and timesharing are treated as entirely separate legal issues. You cannot legally withhold scheduled overnight visits or violate a court-approved Parenting Plan as a punishment for unpaid support. Withholding timesharing without a modified court order can actually put you in contempt of court yourself, damaging your standing in front of the judge.
Yes. If a family court judge finds that a party has willfully and intentionally violated a valid court order without a justifiable reason, the court will routinely order the non-compliant party to reimburse your reasonable attorney fees and court costs related to filing the enforcement action. This rule is designed to ensure the compliant party is not financially penalized for forcing the other side to obey the law.
The primary legal defense against a civil contempt charge is a demonstrated, involuntary inability to comply. If a party can prove that they suffered a severe medical emergency, involuntary job loss, or a physical disability that completely removed their financial ability to pay support, the court will not find them in willful contempt. However, the burden of proof sits entirely on the defending party to present detailed financial documentation supporting their defense.
An experienced modification and enforcement attorney
When your situation changes after your divorce or if your former spouse fails to abide by the divorce decree, you may want to consider modification or enforcement of your divorce decree.
At the Law Offices of Renée Safier Harris, PLLC in Boca Raton, Florida we represent clients in bringing and defending modification and enforcement proceedings. We understand that circumstances change and you may need help after a divorce is finalized. If you have a question about the modification and enforcement of a divorce order, contact us to schedule an appointment.
