How to file a Motion for Contempt in North Carolina

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

Hi, I am having problems with the my ex whom is the custodial parent of my 10 year old son. She has been interfering with my visitations that are court ordered and just last weekend she decided to stop bringing him to the drop off point. I called her while I was at the drop off point waiting for her and was told that she was having dinner and would not be bringing my son, at which point she hung up on me and will not allow me to speak with my son. I honestly don’t know what she is doing this for other than she has been progressively more difficult to deal with since I got married and had another child. My question is this: How do I file a motion for contempt against her in the state of North Carolina? I tried to call the police and they told me that they cannot file an incident report and the Magistrate could not help me due to the civil nature of this situation. I can’t believe that this is so hard to do considering that she is in direct violation of a judges court order. Can you please help me?
Jason

2

You need to file a motion for contempt with the court that issued the order. The motion should outline your version of how the order was violated. You need to send a copy to your ex along with what is called the “order to appear” that the clerk will issue when you file the motion. The order to appear will have a court date in which you will be able to be heard by the judge.

3

The clerk of courts said that they do not have forms to file for contempt…so how do I file for contempt with no forms? The clerk said I’d have to write my own motion for contempt…is this true? Thank you

4

Yes, there is no form.

5

Ok, so there is no form to fill out to file a motion for contempt. How would an individual go about writing up a motion for contempt?
I don’t want to write something up that won’t work in court or that doesn’t follow procedure. Thank you

6

A motion will have the case caption on the top, and your allegations regarding the other party’s misconduct below.

There are sample motions that can be accessed as part of our DIY service. See the side bar for more information.