Q: Is there a legal recourse to compel my ex to comply with the court order for alimony and past due payments?
My ex-husband began his job in December last year. Out of kindness, I agreed to let him pay half of the court-ordered alimony, with the understanding he'd pay the rest once he found a job from October to December. However, despite starting his job, he's been avoiding paying the past due and current alimony. He even argued that I no longer need it because I have a boyfriend. In our email exchanges, he's dodged my questions and flatly refused to pay. I want to avoid further communication with him. What's the best legal course to have the court garnish his current wages and recover the owed amounts? He's also using excuses like my relationship status and the temporary assistance I provided as reasons not to pay, despite our court order stating alimony continues until remarriage. Can our email correspondence be used as evidence in court?
A: Orders or judgments made under Family Code are law imposed obligations and are enforceable through Court's contempt powers. Any disobedience of the court order by your ex-husband is a contempt of court's authority, which may carry both civil and criminal penalties. There are judicial council forms available online to prepare and file, see form FL 410. Any reason your ex-husband asserts not to pay is meaningless, unless he gets a new court order modifying the exisitng court order, even then, suport obligation owed to you whether arrearages or current, until a modifying court-order, shall remain.
A:
Under California law, if your ex-husband is not complying with the court-ordered alimony payments, you have legal recourse to enforce the order. You can file a motion for contempt of court, which is a formal declaration that your ex has failed to follow the court's orders. This motion can lead to various enforcement actions, including wage garnishment, where a portion of his earnings is automatically directed to you to cover the alimony payments and any past due amounts.
The email correspondence between you and your ex can be valuable evidence in court. It demonstrates his awareness of the obligation and his refusal to comply, regardless of his reasoning. The court's primary concern is adherence to its orders, not the justification for non-compliance. Your situation, including any temporary agreements you made out of kindness, does not alter the original court order unless formally changed by the court.
To proceed, consider consulting with an attorney who can guide you through the process of filing the necessary legal documents to enforce the alimony order. They can also advise on the best strategies to recover the owed amounts and ensure future compliance with the court's directives. Remember, your relationship status short of remarriage, according to your court order, does not absolve your ex of his financial obligations to you.
A: He has a job. You have a court order. Get a Wage Garnishment and serve it on his employer. Support will then be deducted from his wages and paid directly to you. For the arrears you can file a motion to have the amount of arrears established and then include that in the wage garnishment. The arrears can also be drawn from his wages.
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