Enforcement Lawyer Neptune Beach

In your family law case, there are a lot of factors considered. The judge will consider your circumstances and requests when making a ruling. However, once a legal ruling is made, all the parties are bound to comply with it or face consequences. 

Sometimes, though, one of the parties will disregard or ignore the court’s orders or does not follow the plan outlined by the court. In these situations, the judge can take steps to enforce their original legal ruling in Florida. 

The two methods that can be used for enforcing the ruling are referred to as:

1. Contempt
2. Enforcement

If someone does not comply with the legally issued order, such as support payments, we can submit a petition to the court for you and ensure one of the above-mentioned measures are used to enforce the prior judgment. 

Enforcement Lawyer in Jacksonville Florida

In the legal world, contempt means that someone did not comply with an order, decree, or mandate made by a judge. Sometimes, this occurs when someone does not comply with the ruling made by a judge, such as not bringing up certain facts or refusing to pay the ordered child support or alimony payments. 

Not all cases of contempt are the same. Depending on the situation, someone may face contempt in one of two ways. These include:

• Criminal contempt
• Civil contempt

Cases of civil contempt are usually used to convince or encourage a party to adhere to the judicial decree or order. For example, if the judge outlines a specific amount of child support that must be paid, but that person, regardless of if they can pay or not, refuses to comply. To make sure the order of the judge is followed, they may order the person to be put in jail until they cover the child support amount that has been ordered. 

With criminal contempt, the situation is different. The purpose of this is to punish the individual for not complying with the given court order. You may experience two different types of criminal contempt, which include direct and indirect. 

With direct contempt, you are dealing with an act of contempt committed in the presence of the courtroom. An example would be continually mentioning embarrassing facts during a court hearing that the judge had stated were irrelevant, and that would be considered direct contempt if they were brought up again. With indirect contempt, it means the activity occurs out of the courtroom. An example would be trying to bribe the counsel for the other side. 

For situations where you were awarded some type of payment but did not receive them from the person ordered to pay, Griffin Family Law is ready to help. We can make a request that the court finds the individual in  contempt of court. 

Understanding Enforcement

After the judge for your case enters any legal ruling, it does not mean the situation is concluded. One reason for this is that in some situations, the judge orders one person to pay alimony or child support, but the individual does not comply with the order. Another situation is if the party is ordered to comply with a decree of equitable distribution but does not do this. 

Because of this, the judge has the right to enter an order over this type of case to make sure all parties comply with the rulings. When necessary, judges in Florida can also enter a monetary judgment, place a lien on a property, suspend driver’s licenses, and garnish wages. 

Does Someone Owe You Payments?

Are you owed alimony, child support, or court costs and attorney fees? Has the other party who was ordered to pay refused to comply with the courts’ order to do so? If so, Griffin Family Law can take the necessary legal action to help ensure compliance. 

Our team has years of experience representing cases like this and will work to ensure you receive the payments that have been ordered by a judge. The law in Florida provides several avenues to enforce compliance, which are highlighted above. If you have questions or need more information, feel free to reach out to our legal team today. We can discuss your situation and create a plan of action about how to move forward.