I have been divorced since 2008. My ex didn’t pay child support for years and we settled with attorneys the first time with him owing arrears of 11,000.00. He recently stopped again after paying for a while and I got another attorney and added on thousands more in arrears and we settled once again on May 13th 2014. It was written and agreed by my ex in the new settlement/ court order that he would make the payments on or before the first of every month. So the first payment was received by child support on June 11th and the 2nd has not been received as of yet. I have sent him reminders but he doesn’t care or respond. I know it is only 2 weeks late each time but his constant ignorance in the past of not paying at all and him now ignoring the due date on the new order in my opinion just proves that he feels that he is above the law. Plus I need the money to help pay the mortgage which falls on the first. Can I file for contempt and would he be held liable to pay by the date on the order or does he have grace time? Thanks!
As long as the child support obligation is included in a court order (not a separation agreement), if your ex does not abide by the terms in the order he can be held in contempt. There is no grace period.
Thank you so much for your timely response !