Child Support Contempt

What should you do if you are facing a child support contempt proceeding in Tulsa County? My name is Brian L. Jackson. I’m a Tulsa father’s rights attorney here at Dads.Law where fathers are not disposable. And let’s talk about if the worst has happened and she filed contempt on you. What do you do about that? How do you defend that?

Well, from a starting standpoint, the best defense to child support contempt obviously is don’t find yourself in that situation in the first place. But if you have found yourself in that situation, one thing you can do is go back over your records and make sure that you actually owe what she says you owe. Now hopefully you’ve been paying using check or some other traceable means of payment. So you can actually go back monthly and look and see how much have I paid? Do I really owe this money? If the answer is no, then you have a complete defense to the contempt.

If you do owe the money though, that would bring me to the next thing I would look at. How did you come to owe that money? Now, one of the elements for contempt is it has to be willful. Now, what that means is if, for example, if you’re not paying because you are injured and can’t work and don’t have an income, that is not willful. There is legal authority that if you’re in prison or in jail and you’re not working because of that, that’s not willful, potentially. Those are some examples of where it is not willful.

Defending a Contempt Proceeding

But you should be aware that if it can show willfulness, then you are arguably in contempt. So how do you defend it in that situation? Well, your best bet is settle it. If you can come up with a lump sum amount and pay her off, that’s usually your best option. Otherwise, you can usually enter into some kind of a plea arrangement where you will pay the balance back.

Now, one other thing to be aware of, even if you have a defense to contempt, if money is owing, money is owing, you could very well be found to not be in contempt of court but still owe her money because those are two completely separate issues. Even if you didn’t willfully violate the order, you may still owe money that has to be paid. So it’s a good idea, even if you have a defense to the contempt, pay her because your best bet to avoid a problem is to pay that debt off.

Get the Legal Help You Need

And guys, if you are facing contempt, you need a good lawyer. And one place you can find a good Oklahoma child support lawyer is at Dads.Law where fathers are not disposable.