Respond to a motion for contempt
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What can happen and how to respond if the other party claims you’re not following (not obeying) a court order. (Forms and instruction)
1. Fast facts
Why did I get contempt papers?
If you received a Motion or Petition for Contempt for not obeying a court order, it’s because the person who filed it believes that you’re purposely not following the court’s order. They’re asking a judge to find you “in contempt” of the order.
A party can file a Motion for Contempt in the same court and case number as the order they want to enforce. The Prosecuting Attorney can start a new case with a Petition for Contempt to enforce a child support order for the Division of Child Support. The process to respond is the same. We’ll use the word “motion” here to refer to a petition or motion for contempt.
Do I have to respond to a motion for contempt?
是的。切勿无视这些法律文书。您若未按时作出回应，对方的诉求大概率会得到法院支持。
请查明您的截止日期！每个县对动议的答辩截止日期规定各不相同。可能是庭审前 1 天至 1 周内的任意一天。您收到的文书上可能不会注明答辩截止日期。请联系高等法院书记员办公室或法院协办专员，咨询答复截止日期。请告知书记员，您收到的动议类型及法院庭审时间。
即便您认为需要更多时间来作出答复，仍应尽最大努力为庭审做好准备。同时联系对方，询问其是否同意将庭审延期至后续日期 。
If you can’t respond in time, you can file a Notice of Appearance and ask the judge to reschedule your hearing to a later date. If the judge doesn’t reschedule, you must go to the hearing as scheduled and be as ready as possible. If you don’t go to the hearing, the judge might issue a bench warrant for your arrest.
Do I have a right to a free lawyer?
Sometimes the judge can send you to jail for contempt. If you receive contempt papers asking for jail time and you have a low income, you may have a “right to counsel” – a lawyer that you don’t have to pay.
To find out if you qualify for a public defender or court-appointed attorney, contact your local public defender office. If there’s no local public defender, ask your family law facilitator, if your county has one, or your court clerk for a referral. If this doesn’t work, ask for a court- appointed lawyer in your response and at the start of your hearing.
The public defender will probably represent you only for the contempt hearing. The public defender won’t help you file your own motion or other action, such as a petition to modify child support order.
Even if you don’t qualify for a public defender, you should still try to talk to a lawyer. A lawyer can advise you about important legal rights. Example: You might want to file your own motion for contempt or ask for a change in the order the other party claims you’ve violated. A lawyer can advise you what to do.