In an ideal world, court orders would be followed. That means that your child’s other parent would abide by the terms of your custody arrangement as ordered by the court. If you’re reading this post, though, then you know that we don’t live in an ideal world. Court orders are disobeyed all the time. In the child custody context, this could mean that your relationship with your child is jeopardized and/or that your child’s safety and well-being is put at risk.
What can you do about it?
Judges don’t like it when their orders aren’t followed. After all, disobeying a court order is disobeying the legal process that makes our society function fairly. So, if your child’s other parent is failing to abide by a court order, then a judge will want to know about it.
But a judge isn’t going to take action on his or her own. Instead, you’ll need to bring the matter to his or her attention. Filing a motion for contempt, which is sometimes called a motion for rule to show cause, often does this. Here, the motion lays out the facts and exactly how the order has been violated, requesting that the other party appear before the judge and explain why he or she should not be held in contempt.
What good does a contempt finding do?
A contempt finding can do a lot. To start, there may be an economic recovery, such as paying certain legal fees. But demonstrating that the other parent fails to abide by a custody order can give you strong grounds to modify that existing order to make more in your and your child’s interests.
Be confident in how you approach your legal issues
A lot of people are afraid to be forceful in these situations. But the law is there to be used and to protect people like you and your child. If you’d like to learn more about what to do when your child’s other parent violates a child custody order, consider reaching out to an experienced family law attorney.