Legal Question in Family Law in California

My ex-husband has filed an osc contempt against me. I have not yet gotten served but the reason i know that he filled this is because i've checked my case on the courts website and it shows that there is an upcoming court date.
I had the original court order modified about a year and a half ago and i now have sole physical and legal custody of my son and visitation was to be agreed upon. He is not aware of this change due to him disappearing three years ago. I have no phone number or address for him therefore i was unable to contact him. I've been at the same residence for the last 5 years and i've had the same phone number for the last 7 years, he's never tried contacting me.
He also owes me over $27k in back child support.
I would like to know what my next steps should be. Once he serves me is there a response that i need to file, what do i need to do? I live in CA.

Asked on 4/01/11, 1:21 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Hong Shen

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First and foremost, you need an attorney. Contempt charge is serious and you do not want to take it lightly. I would do a reply to put any new information in, such as the CS owed, but find a family law attorney first and let him or her decide whether to bring it up. Obviously you need to get the paper to see what your ex really wants and what the contempt charge is for then decide what to do.

Answered on 4/01/11, 1:47 pm

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Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

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If you cannot afford an attorney, you can ask the court to appoint an attorney to defend you for the purpose of the contempt hearing. The court appoints a public defender to do this.

You should also consider filing an OSC for contempt against him for his failure to pay child support.

Answered on 4/04/11, 7:30 am

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