Contempt and Enforcement Attorneys in Columbus

Contempt and Enforcement Specialists With Over 63 Years of Experience

When an ex-spouse fails to comply with a court order, they can be found in contempt of that order. This includes orders for spousal support, child support, and other arrangements. When your ex-spouse violates the terms of a court order, you can file a motion to have them held in contempt to enforce a standing order.

For this, you will require the aid of a contempt and enforcement attorney in Columbus, Ohio. The family law attorneys at the Lawrence Law Office understand how important it is that you are paid spousal and child support on time under the court’s directives. We will file the motion in an expedited manner to ensure that you get the money you were promised after the divorce.

What Are Contempt Charges?

If we look at what we see on TV dramas, contempt of court is when someone has a severe outburst and loses control of their emotions. That hardly ever happens. Most contempt charges occur due to conduct carried out outside of the courtroom, not within it.

In the context of divorce proceedings, contempt is when one spouse or the other:

• Fails to make child support payments;
• Fails to make spousal support payments;
• Disregards court-ordered distribution of marital property;
• Ignores a visitation schedule order without cause.

To prove contempt, your lawyer must show that the other party was aware of the court order, could fulfill the demand, and then chose not to. This presupposes that they did not have a justifiable excuse.

Your Columbus, OH, contempt and enforcement attorney can help you decide whether it’s a good time to pressure the other party with a contempt charge.

How Do You Start the Contempt Process in Ohio?

If your ex-partner isn’t following a court order, support, visitation, or custody, it may be time to file a contempt motion. Here’s how it works:

• You start by filing a contempt action with the court. This begins formal contempt proceedings.
• Include an affidavit explaining exactly how your former spouse violated the court order.
• The court only moves forward if:
  • The order was clear
  • The person knew about it
  • They had no valid excuse and still didn’t comply

What Happens Next:

• A hearing is usually set within 4-6 weeks, depending on the judge’s schedule.
• Your former partner gets notified of the motion, the potential penalties, and their right to an attorney.
• If found guilty, they could face:
  • Makeup parenting time
  • Fines or attorney’s fees
  • A modified parenting order
  • In some cases, even a short jail term

Important Notes:

• Civil contempt aims to force compliance, not punishment.
• Criminal contempt is more serious; it applies if the violation is willful and ongoing.
• Courts do not require intent. The failure alone may be enough if the person had the means to follow the order.

Before you move forward, talk to a contempt of court lawyer. A skilled Ohio contempt attorney can help avoid missteps and make sure your contempt case is solid from the start.

What Are the Consequences of Contempt?

Most ex-spouses tend to comply when faced with a contempt order. This is because contempt carries the weight of both criminal and civil charges. If successful in pressing a contempt charge, an ex-spouse can face additional fines, and if they repeatedly fail to pay, they could end up facing jail time.

Other penalties can include:

• Compensatory custody time,
• And compensation for your attorney’s fees.

In most cases, the contempt charge is used to leverage the offending spouse into taking immediate action to remedy the situation. Ex-spouses who are behind in child support payments generally do not find themselves in jail. This serves little purpose and tends to defeat the purpose of the order. The court will generally push the other spouse to make back payments on delinquent support until they are caught up.

In some cases, if a spouse has demonstrable economic damages from a lack of support (such as a repossessed vehicle or a home going into foreclosure), the court may force the delinquent spouse to pay those damages in addition to what they owe in back support.

How Important is Intent?

A lot of people assume that you have to prove someone acted out of spite or malice to win a contempt case. You don’t. In Ohio, civil contempt isn’t about punishing bad behavior; it’s about holding someone accountable for not following a court order. Whether the person meant to cause trouble or just didn’t feel like complying doesn’t matter. What matters is that they were subject to a valid order and failed to follow it.

The court looks at three things:

1. Was there a clear order?
2. Did the person know about it?
3. Could they have complied, but didn’t?

That’s it. If the answer to all three is yes, the court may find that person in contempt. Intent doesn’t let them off the hook. The judge might listen to their reasons, but unless those reasons show that compliance was impossible, not inconvenient, not unpleasant, but truly impossible, they’re not going to carry much weight.

This comes up a lot in support cases. A former spouse might stop paying and claim they’re struggling financially. But if that person is working under the table or intentionally avoiding better-paying work, the court may see that as a willful failure. The same goes for parenting time. If one parent skips visits without rescheduling or blocks the other parent’s access without cause, claiming they “didn’t mean harm” isn’t a defense.

So while intent can be part of the conversation, it’s not the deciding factor. In civil contempt, the focus is always on the act, not the attitude behind it.

How Can a Columbus Contempt Attorney Help You?

Since the ultimate goal is to enforce the divorce decree or the temporary order imposed by the court, punishing your spouse is what would happen when the process of reasoning with them has failed.

Also, remember that in order to prove contempt, you need to show that your ex-spouse could fulfill the court’s demand and then willfully elected not to. In most cases, the offending spouse will have some excuse that they believe should absolve them of the requirement to pay, in the case of a support order, such as unexpected expenses or a reduction in income.

At this point, the court will need to determine whether the unexpected expenses are justified and whether the lack of income is not willful. Bitter ex-spouses have been known to reduce their hours or avoid working completely to give the appearance that paying spousal or child support would be an undue hardship.

The point, however, is to give the offending spouse a comfortable place to retreat that benefits you. That entails offering a manageable resolution that ensures that you get not only the monthly support payments ordered in the divorce decree but any unpaid support that you are owed.

Alternatives to Filing a Contempt Charge

Filing a contempt charge can seem like a nuclear option—and it is. The best way to resolve a situation like this is to sit down and determine why the spouse has not made the required payments. In the event that they are doing it merely out of spite, then going nuclear is the last option on the table. If there are some good reasons why the ex-spouse is delinquent in their payments, then working something out with them is the better option. By using a contempt charge, you are forcing them into a corner. There is a time for that, but it’s a very strong card to play.

What If You Can’t Afford to Follow the Order?

There are moments when people genuinely fall behind, not because they want to, but because life hits hard. A job loss. A medical emergency. Something unexpected that throws your entire budget into a tailspin. If you’re under a court order to pay support and suddenly can’t, it’s easy to panic. But ignoring the order or hoping the issue goes away won’t help. It usually makes things worse.

Ohio courts understand that real financial hardship happens. They’re not blind to the fact that circumstances change. But the burden is on you to prove that your situation isn’t something you created on purpose. That’s where the law draws a line. If you’re working less by choice, quitting a job out of spite, or suddenly taking a lower-paying role with no explanation, the court might see that as willful underemployment, and they won’t be sympathetic.

If your financial situation has changed, don’t stay silent. You can go back to court and ask for a modification. It’s not immediate, but it gives you a way to show the judge you’re not avoiding responsibility, you’re just trying to manage what you can. Waiting only makes things harder. Don’t wait until the other party files a contempt motion and you’re sitting in court trying to explain after the fact. If your financial picture has changed, talk to a lawyer early. A good legal team can help you present your case clearly, with documentation that shows what’s changed and why it matters. It’s not about excuses, it’s about facts, fairness, and protecting yourself from long-term damage.

Everyone struggles at some point. But if you’re honest with the court and you approach the problem the right way, there’s usually room to work something out.

Why Should You Speak to a Lawyer Before Filing a Motion?

Filing a contempt motion might feel like the obvious next step when your ex-partner refuses to follow a court order. Once you file, you’re stepping into a formal process with real legal consequences. Courts expect contempt proceedings to meet specific standards. If your motion is weak or incomplete, it can be dismissed, and it might give your former spouse a chance to file claims of their own.

Before you file, a contempt of court lawyer can help you weigh all options and protect yourself from unnecessary complications. This isn’t just about being right, it’s about being prepared.

Here’s why consulting a lawyer first matters:

• They’ll make sure your motion is legally sound, including the affidavit, documentation, and procedural requirements.
• They’ll evaluate the strength of your case, making sure the court order was clear and enforceable.
• They’ll help you avoid missteps, such as filing too soon, relying on weak evidence, or triggering avoidable counterclaims.
• They may identify alternatives: negotiation, modification, or mediation that could resolve the issue faster and with less stress.
• They’ll represent you if things escalate, especially if the contempt action leads to a hearing or a request for penalties.

Contempt actions carry legal weight. You’re asking the court to hold someone accountable, and judges take that seriously. So should you.

Talk to a Contempt and Enforcement Attorney in Columbus, Ohio

The attorneys at the Lawrence Law Office have fought for our clients’ needed support payments. While occasionally it comes down to filing a contempt charge, in many instances, something agreeable can be worked out. If you’re having trouble getting your spouse to pay up, we will help you resolve the situation using the best available tools. Give us a call at 614-810-4124 or contact us online to set up an appointment.