My fiance and his ex-wife have a custody order for their 3 children that was signed into affect December 2008. She has broken the terms of the order more times than I can remember since it was signed, while we have been patient and followed it to a T! The order is up for reevaluation in December of 2011. Is there a statute of limitations on filing for contempt or can we present all the evidence when we return to court for reevaluation in 2011?
Thanks.
I dont know if there is a statute of limitations for contempt, but you would need to file a motion for contempt if you want her to be found in contempt of the court order. If I were you, I would not wait until the review hearing to present this, but file a Motion for Contempt every time she violates the order.
While there is no specific limitation on contempt, I do not think your best course of action is to wait until your scheduled review. I suggest you file a consolidate motion with all her violations now, and one thereafter on each subsequent breach on her part.
Can my husband file directly with the court or is this something that we should go through our lawyer for every single time?
He may file on his own.
How do we go about filing on our own? We reside in New England so it’s not as if we can walk into the courthouse and file paperwork. If you could be as specific as possible as I have tried going on the court’s website to look up procedures and paperwork and it is very close to impossible to find anything of any help.
~Thank you
You must draft a motion for contempt and list your allegations regarding the violations of the Order. You will need to mail the motion to the clerk of district court where the case is pending, and have a date set for the hearing, which you must attend.