Order enforcement for Austell parents.
An ignored order leaves an Austell family stuck, with no clear way forward. We bring a contempt action to unstick it, putting the court’s weight back behind what was already decided so the other parent has to comply.
Daniels & Taylor serves Austell families from our office in Lawrenceville.
What most people pay for a case evaluation to learn
Contempt is how you enforce an order that already exists, not how you change it. If
the other person is ignoring your custody, support, or divorce order, you ask the court
to enforce it; to change the order you file a separate modification (O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(b)).
The violation has to be willful. An honest inability to pay is a defense to a support
contempt; the question is whether the other person could comply and chose not to
(O.C.G.A. 19-6-28).
How a Georgia contempt case works
Contempt is how you enforce an existing order when the other person refuses to follow
it. The court can compel compliance, and for a willful refusal it can order jail until
the person complies, a purgeable and coercive remedy, so no one can promise that the
other side will be jailed (O.C.G.A. 19-6-28).
Contempt is filed in the same court that entered the order you are enforcing, the
court that issued your order, not necessarily where either of you lives now. If your order came from the Superior Court of Gwinnett
County, that is where your contempt case belongs; if it came from another county, that
is where it belongs.
If circumstances have genuinely changed, the proper step in Georgia is generally a modification, not contempt, because contempt enforces an existing order rather than changing it (O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(b), 19-9-3), so a parent in Austell whose situation has changed typically files for modification.
A contempt action in Georgia enforces an existing custody order rather than creating new terms (O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(b)), so a parent in Austell uses contempt to hold the other parent to the current custody arrangement.
Contempt also enforces the terms of a Georgia divorce decree, such as support, property, and parenting obligations (O.C.G.A. 19-6-28), so a party in Austell can use contempt to enforce what the divorce ordered.
Common questions about contempt in Austell
Where is a contempt case filed?
A contempt action belongs in the court that entered your original order: if your order came from a particular county’s Superior Court, that is where the contempt is filed, even if you have since moved to another county. We confirm which court that is for you.
If they are found in contempt, what happens to them?
The court can require makeup visitation, collect what is owed, charge them fees, and escalate if they keep ignoring the order.
What if one ruling does not stop them?
The court can escalate; ongoing defiance after an order opens the door to harsher enforcement.
Get unstuck and get compliance. Call (770) 285-1673 for a free case evaluation.