Orange County Divorce Lawyer Blog

For the second time this year, Terrell Owens (hereinafter "TO") fell behind in his child support payments to the mother of his child. TO was due in court last Tuesday on a contempt charge because he failed to make two months payment plus $10,000.

This past July, TO claimed that he could only afford to pay $2,500 per month. The Judge denied his request and he settled by paying $10,000 owed for the months of June and July in addition to payment of his ex's attorney fees.

Additionally, TO's ex filed a second petition for contempt in Fulton County Superior Court earlier this month requesting Owens be incarcerated for not making his August and September payments. TO, star of a VH-1 reality series, reportedly earns an estimated $666,000 a month, according to his ex's contempt filings.

We have previously blogged about the consequences of failing to pay your child here under the Contempt section. If you fail to pay your court ordered child support payments, like TO, you can face jail time.

From an Orange County divorce lawyer's perspective, in order to prevail in a Contempt matter here in California, the following requirements must be met to prevail in a Contempt action:

(1) There must be a valid order;
(2) The citee must have knowledge of the order;
(3) The court must find that the citee had the ability to comply with the order;
(4) To be held in contempt, the accused party must have willfully disobeyed the order.

Pursuant to CCP section 1218(c), a citee who is found in contempt of court for failure to comply with a court order under the Family Code must at minimum, be sentenced to the following:

(1) On a first finding of contempt, performance of community service of up to 120 hours or imprisonment of up to 120 hours for each count.

(2) On a second finding of contempt, performance of community service of up to 120 hours, and imprisonment of up to 120 hours, for each count.

The court must take also take the parties' employment schedules into consideration when ordering community service, imprisonment or both.

For more information about filing for Contempt in Orange County, contact an Orange County family law lawyer for more information.

Source: T.O. catches up on child support payments, avoids jail

I previously blogged about Terrell Owens' (T.O.) refusal to pay child support to the mother of his child here. In fact, the mother of his child even scheduled a Contempt hearing due to his failure to pay. T.O. allegedly is court ordered to pay the mother $5,000 per month in child support. Now, it turns out that T.O. has paid his child support obligation and the Contempt request has been dismisssed.

From an Orange County divorce lawyer's perspective, there are serious consequences for one's failure to pay child support. Like T.O.'s case, the party receiving child support could file a Contempt request. However, in order to prevail in a Contempt hearing, said party must prove that there is a valid order, the citee must have knowledge of the order, the court must find that the citee had the ability to comply with the order. Finally, to be held in contempt, the accused party must have willfully disobeyed the order.

In other extreme situations, the citee can be sent to jail for his failure to abide by court orders as discussed in this blog post.

If there is an order for the payment of child support, make sure said payments are made and that they are on time. Otherwise, there could be drastic consequences.

Contact an Orange County divorce lawyer for additional information on filing a Contempt action in Los Angeles or Orange County.

Source: T.O. makes his child support payments

The mother of Terrell Owens' child has accused the NFL star of not paying child support, causing the setting of a Contempt hearing later this month in an Atlanta family law court.

According to various media outlets, authorities say that a court hearing has been set for later this month after the mother of NFL star Terrell Owens' child accused him of not paying all of the child support owed to her. I previously blogged about Contempt hearings here.

I am not sure about the details of prevailing in a Contempt proceeding in the State of Georgia. However, from an Orange County family law perspective, in order to prevail in a Contempt matter here in California, the following requirements must be met to prevail in a Contempt action:

(1) There must be a valid order;
(2) The citee must have knowledge of the order;
(3) The court must find that the citee had the ability to comply with the order;
(4) To be held in contempt, the accused party must have willfully disobeyed the order.

Pursuant to CCP section 1218(c), a citee who is found in contempt of court for failure to comply with a court order under the Family Code must at minimum, be sentenced to the following:

(1) On a first finding of contempt, performance of community service of up to 120 hours or imprisonment of up to 120 hours for each count.

(2) On a second finding of contempt, performance of community service of up to 120 hours, and imprisonment of up to 120 hours, for each count.

The court must take also take the parties' employment schedules into consideration when ordering community service, imprisonment or both.

For more information about filing for Contempt in Orange County, contact an Orange County family law lawyer for more information.

Source: Court hearing set in Owens' child support case

This is quite interesting, as a member of law enforcement, a Dallas Deputy Sherrif was recently sent to jail for four hours due to his failure to pay his child support obligation.

Deputy Lonnie Burgess, who was hired in 2008, was booked in jail and released on April 4, 2011. Indeed, the Sheriff's Department has been trying to police its own employees, having recently discovered that some of them had active warrants or owed the county money in unpaid fines.

Dallas court records show Burgess filed for divorce against his wife, Deborah, in a Dallas County family court in 2007. Said divorce was finalized in 2008. Additionally, the court docket indicates Deputy Burgess has had problems due to his failure to pay child support several times in the past. Due to said failure to pay child support, a judge has entered previous contempt orders against him. The ex-wife, Deborah Burgess, claimed in court documents that in September of last year, her husband owed more than $15,000 in back child support for the couple's three children.

Further, records indicate that on April 4, the judge issued a warrant for Deputy Lonnie Burgess' arrest after holding him in contempt.

The Texas Attorney General, which enforces payment of child support, has filed documents with the court requesting that Dallas County withhold money from Deputy Burgess' paychecks. This is fairly common in proceedings here in Orange County or Los Angeles County. If a payor refuses to pay his child support obligation, a wage assignment may be issued.

Deputy Burgess was ordered to pay $1,500 per month in child support. Let's hope he keeps up with his payments either through voluntarily paying or through the wage assignment. Either way, sending a payor to jail for wilful failure to pay child support is a sign that the Courts will not take one's failure to pay lightly. if you have children, pay your dues accordingly.

For more information on any child support issues or divorce issues, contact an Orange County child support lawyer for more information.

Source: Dallas County Sherrif warrant deputy jailed for not paying child support

Jon and Kate Gosselin are making headlines again with Kate Gosselin's recent filing of a Contempt action against Jon. I blogged about the punishment for Contempt in California here. It turns out that Kate is filing for Contempt because Jon has purportedly violated the parties' custody order that prohibits both parties from discussing the case. Kate alleges that Jon is in contempt because he is purportedly selling information about the case and tweeing his displeasure of the Judge's prior decisions.

Further, Kate is claiming that Jon is willfully disobeying the orders in an attempt to earn money. She is requesting that the judge to modify the custody agreement to protect the children.

From an Orange County family law perspective, in order to prevail in a Contempt matter here in California, the following requirements must be met to prevail in a Contempt action:

(1) There must be a valid order;
(2) The citee must have knowledge of the order;
(3) The court must find that the citee had the ability to comply with the order;
(4) To be held in contempt, the accused party must have willfully disobeyed the order.

Pursuant to CCP section 1218(c), a citee who is found in contempt of court for failure to comply with a court order under the Family Code must at minimum, be sentenced to the following:

(1) On a first finding of contempt, performance of community service of up to 120 hours or imprisonment of up to 120 hours for each count.

(2) On a second finding of contempt, performance of community service of up to 120 hours, and imprisonment of up to 120 hours, for each count.

The court must take also take the parties' employment schedules into consideration when ordering community service, imprisonment or both.

For more information about filing for Contempt in Orange County, contact an Orange County family law lawyer for more information.

Source: Kate Gosselin Moves to Hold Jon in Contempt

I previously discussed the requirements for filing a Contempt action here in Orange County. However, many individuals sometimes question why bother filing a Contempt action if the citee will continue to disobey court orders? From an Orange County family law perspective, if you are successful in your Contempt hearing, the punishment can be severe. Once the moving party is able to prove that the citee is in contempt of court, what is the punishment?

Pursuant to CCP section 1218(c), a citee who is found in contempt of court for failure to comply with a court order under the Family Code must at minimum, be sentenced to the following:

The plot thickens in the John Edwards/Rielle Hunter extra-marital affair scandal as a North Carolina judge found former John Edwards campaign staffer, Andrew Young, in contempt of court for failing to turn over a sex tape featuring the onetime presidential candidate and his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

North Carolina Superior Court Judge Abraham Jones ruled that Young has until Wednesday at 2 p.m. to turn over the tape, according to the Raleigh, N.C., News and Observer. If Young surrenders the tape, there will be a hearing to determine whether he and his wife Cheri have complied with the order, Jones said at the hearing at the Chatham County Courthouse in Hillsborough, N.C.

After the hearing today, the Youngs said they never had any intention of distributing the tape or showing it publicly, according to the News and Observer. They said they have no problem with turning the materials over to the court to be sealed until the civil case over possession is resolved. The tape is currently in a safety deposit box in Atlanta.