Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

Re: ex in contempt of court

YOUR POST:

My divorce decree mandated that my ex not only pay child support but pay 1/2 of all medical that insurance did not cover. I have sent him two letters with receipts and he does not respond. I don't think he intends to.

Question #1:

He did get his support amount modified recently, but that didn't affect any other terms of the decree such as the medical copays, correct?

------> Answer: Yes, that is correct.

Question #2:

Can I file contempt of court charges? Is this hard to do? What good is a judgement if someone can just ignore it or I have to pay filing fees to get him to comply?

------> Answer: Yes, you could. But it may not get you very far. Proper procedure is to first file a motion for a court Order adjudicating the validity of the claim of debt and then specifically directing and requiring ex-husband to pay the specified amount not later than a court-specified deadline date. Then, if ex-husband fails to make payment of the specified sum by the specified deadline date, you have a good case (indeed, a GREAT case) for contempt of court for disobeying a court order. And if found guilty of contempt, he can be put in jail until such time as he coughs up the dough and pays the money, as ordered by the court.

LAWRENCE D. GORIN

http://www.divorcesource.com/OR/pages/ldgorin.html

Law Offices of L.D. Gorin

521 S.W. Clay St., Suite 205

Portland, Oregon 97201

E-mail: [email protected]