Legal Question in Family Law in California
I have been paying spousal support for 14 years. I lost my job and exhaused my unemployment and still I cannot find work. I owe my ex about 24,000.00. I have no money to pay her and she is taking me back to court on contempt. I took her to court about 6 months ago trying to get it modified or even have the order dropped. But the judge would not do anything. The amount keeps getting larger and it seems like no one sees this. I had a attorney who only took what money I did have to try and get this dropped and he did absolutely nothing in my favor. If I have no money to pay her, what do they want from me? What is the worse case senerio that will happen to me. My court date is Dec 2.
1 Answer from Attorneys
In California you can be jailed for being in contempt of court. Child support has been ordered by a judge, when you fail to pay child support then you fail to comply with a court order. Each month that support has not been paid is a count of contempt. I believe you can be sentenced to up to ten days for each contempt allegation.
The law basically says that you have to get a job, even if it is at Mc Donalds. The judge is not going to eliminate child support however they will often reduce support, although it sounds like the judge refused to even do that at your last hearing. Your best bet is to bring evidence of your job search into court. (A copy of a Mc Donald's application that has been completed may go a long way because it would show the judge that you are doing everything you can to get a job.)
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