Options To Enforce Child & Spousal Support Orders

One of the leading reasons people continue to come back to the Orange County family law court is to enforce orders of the court. The orders of a court in relation to the Orange County divorce can range from supposal support orders, to custody orders, to orders for the division of assets, and in some circumstances even injunctions. The most important among these orders and the ones most commonly used are the child custody and child and spousal support orders.  Here are some options to enforce support orders.

Order of Wage Assignment

California law empowers the courts to issue an earnings assignment for all the support orders that they issue. This is a means to ensure that the payment of the spousal and child support is not made by the spouse but by the employers of the spouse directly through deductions from their monthly salaries.

This method is an effective enforcement of a court order since it keeps the paying spouse from reinvading on the orders of the court and disregarding them altogether. In cases where the parties have mutually agreed on the support being paid and the part fails to honor it, the company can again be ordered to pay the monthly amount from the parties’ paycheck.

Contempt Of Court Proceedings

The charge of contempt is usually applied to parties that are unable to comply with the court’s order despite being capable of carrying out the instructions mentioned in the court order and having full knowledge of the court’s order. There is however a legal rule that anyone who is accused of contempt needs to be proven to have committed the contempt beyond reasonable doubt. This means that the burden of proof for proving contempt is on the party that makes the accusation. A few examples of charges leading to contempt cases are failing to abide by child custody orders or pay child support. The penalties of contempt can include hefty fines and jail terms.

Writ of Execution

This is one of the measures that the parties can resort to in lieu of going back to court. The writ of execution is basically a writ in the court which asks the court to order the liquidation of the non performing parties’ assets and transfer the funds to the party that was promised said funds. There can also be other writs such as writ of seizures for matters related to property etc. This type of property order is often used in situations where the court’s order for asset distribution in an Orange County divorce case is disregarded by the either of the spouse.

Gerald A. Maggio is an experienced Orange County divorce attorney and family law attorney located in Irvine, California, serving the Orange County and Riverside areas. Mr. Maggio assists clients with legal issues including divorce, legal separation, divorce mediation, child custody, prenuptial agreements, stepparent adoptions, and other family law issues. Mr. Maggio has practiced law in California since 1999, and founded The Maggio Law Firm in 2005, focusing exclusively on divorce and family law matters.