A Nassau County enforcement of divorce orders lawyer can help you if you thought that the court orders put in place were there to protect you, but are no longer being complied with by the other side. An enforcement of court orders divorce lawyer in Nassau County can assist you with navigating the complex legal process to hold the other party accountable and to ensure that these orders are appropriately enforced.
An enforcement of divorce orders lawyer in Nassau County may be the only person who can help you with this complicated situation such that the other side steps up to the plate and complies with the orders as originally requested. When a decree incorporates the terms of a settlement agreement between spouses or when a court order handed down by a judge manages the decree's terms after divorce trial, these are legally binding.
This means that a spouse cannot simply ignore these orders because there will be consequences for doing so. It is your responsibility, however, to come forward with allegations of the other side refusing to comply with court orders, however, because you will need to convince the court that the other side has failed to uphold their end of the bargain. This can turn into a legal matter, and one that can be contested and highly emotional very quickly. That is why it is helpful to have an attorney at your side, who has handled situations like this before. Whether you came to an agreement on your own through an alternative dispute resolution or whether your lawyer fought for things in the divorce settlement as your case unfolded within the courts, the other side and you have a responsibility to uphold any court orders. Examples of court orders that are commonly ignored include those related to child support, division of property or alimony.
The wrong spouse has to act on his or her own to enforce the order when the other side doesn’t comply. You can initiate this by filing an order to show cause with the court directly with the help of your Nassau County enforcement of divorce orders lawyer. When this is approved by a judge, the order commands the non-compliant spouse to appear in front of the judge to explain why he or she has failed to comply with the order.
The non-compliance spouse does have the right to hire his or her own attorney or to have one appointed. When the non-compliance spouse can indicate to the judge that there was a good reason why he or she failed to cooperate, the court may not take any further action. However, if it cannot be shown that there was a reasonable purpose for ignoring the court order, the court can find him or her in content. The judge must find that the person acted willfully; meaning that they intentionally planned to ignore or disobey the order.
When imprisonment is requested as a result of non-payment of money in exchange for marital property or the non-payment of alimony, the offending spouse could even be thrown in jail for up to six months or until he or she makes their payment, whatever comes first. These limits, however, do not apply to child support as that must be managed separately. A person who may be unable to pay current child support may need to initiate a lower child support modification request with the help of an experienced attorney in order to avoid sanctions and other fallout and complications associated with the conclusion of the case.