Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania
In the summer of 2010, my sister-in-law and her estranged husband had their first divorce hearing in West Chester, Pa. At that time, both parties agreed to produce documents mostly related to taxes and investments. A second hearing was held in March of this year. My sister-in-law produced all papers as requested, but her estranged husband did not. The hearing master dismissed the parties since the materials necessary to make a fair and equitable resolution were not made available. A �final� hearing is scheduled for mid September, 2011. Her estranged husband has yet to produce the documents. Her attorney informed her that her only recourse is for her to charge her husband with contempt of court in order to see, and have sufficient time to analyze the documents before a final judgment is rendered. Her attorney further informed her that she would be liable for all additional attorneys� fees and court costs.
We were under the impression that an agreement made by parties in a legal setting is essentially sanctioned by the master. Therefore, it seems logical that failure to adhere to the master�s requests demonstrates contempt for the court and as a result, the court should bring the contempt charges.
Thank you for any clarification you can offer in this matter.
2 Answer from Attorneys
If she wants him held in contempt then she needs to file a contempt petition or in the alternative, she could file a motion to compel discovery. The divorce master isn't a judge and thus can't hold anyone in contempt. I suggest that she follow the direction of her attorney.
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