Divorce Orders

When the people accept and abide by court orders, it can be said that the society is an orderly one. If a particular individual does not observe a divorce order, this is a grave issue. The court is empowered to enforce the divorce orders via contempt. Incarceration of such a person is the most extreme step a court can take.

Initially, the court tries out some less drastic steps than imprisonment to test whether the person is amending his/her behavior and executing the divorce orders. The concept of 'Contempt of court' has been detailed below.

When an obligated spouse intentionally disobeys the divorce orders despite having the capacity or ability to comply with it, this action is termed as 'contempt of court.' When the court detects such contempt, the court has the freedom to incarcerate this spouse till he/she complies with the order. Contempt of court has very harsh repercussions. The court looks at it as a last resort to compel a spouse to obey divorce orders. The Family Court Judge hears motions for contempt.

Some examples of contempt of court are as follows.

Let us assume that a custodial parent denies the non custodial parent his/her visitation rights. In response, the non custodial parent ceases to disburse child support. Both these actions are treated by the court as 'contempt'.

Another example is that a non custodial parent refuses to disburse child support. In response, the custodial parent does not permit contact between the child and the non custodial parent. These actions are also treated as 'contempt'.

When one divorced spouse detects that the ex-spouse is not complying with the divorce orders, he/she can file a petition or motion to enforce the divorce order. This petition or motion has the following features.

• It consists of the following information
  • The date of the divorce order that this spouse wants enforced
  • The details of this divorce order
  • What section of this order is not being observed by the other spouse
• A statement that the other spouse must pay the costs of filing the petition or motion to enforce, preparation of the hearing and attending the hearing

The petition to enforce must be accompanied by an affidavit (sworn statement) of the complaining spouse. This affidavit must describe how the divorce order is being violated. The complaining spouse must sign the motion in the presence of a notary public. The complaining spouse must serve the other spouse with the petition or motion to enforce the affidavit and relevant paperwork.

Here are some topics associated with divorce orders:

• Divorce Restraining Orders - The impact of a divorce restraining order has been discussed
• Divorce Temporary Orders - The role of court in divorce temporary order has been noted
• Order to Show Cause Divorce - The motion of order to 'show-cause' divorce has been explained
• Consent Order Divorce - The concept of consent order divorce along with the types of this order has been included
• Order Divorce Decree- The process to order Divorce Decree has been detailed

Divorce Papers