Contempt of Court

[jb]

How long can a Judge incarcerate someone in Alabama for contempt? Indefinitely?
Divorced in 1991
two kids
bankruptcy put me behind in CS, made monthly pmts but less than ordered
acrued $19 K arrearge
oldest kid came to live with me
new modification no support from either parent, agreed to pay arrearage at $500/month
after 8 months X wants $7500 cash one time settlement, signs agreement of mutual release
8 years pass no problems with X
in 2008 X turns me over to DHR for collection of $19K + 24K in interest
during those years I documented $80K in expenses for the kids
State attorney says X can't sign away right to collect $19K, says my expenses were "gifts"
X tells Judge she waited to file until the kids were grown and married, so they wouldn't need my financial help and I wouldn't "stop buying things for them to pay her"
No decision but I'm guessing I'll be held in contempt, so how long do I have to look forward to living in the county lock-up

[TC]

I haven't a clue about how long a Judge can put you in jail.

However, if as you say you have a court ordered modification to the original order that absolves you from further support obligations (minus the arrearage which you presumably paid back) then the State Attorney would appear to be out of line.  RUN do not walk RUN and get yourself a very good attorney now.

TC

[pp13]

RUN do not walk RUN and get yourself a very good attorney now.

This.
You'll be in a world of hurt if you foul this up.  You need a good attorney.

[jb]

I have an attorney, I don't believe there is such a thing as a "good attorney", Lee excluded. We signed a mutual release between the two of us, now I'm being told she can't do that. For 8-9 years I thought we were done as she released me from this obligation in writing. The trouble is the Judge may not accept it. I've paid my debt, I taking a last stand. I'll never pay this spiteful, malicious woman another dime. The kids are grown and the oldest has a child of her own. No one seems to know how long the Judge can incarcerate me. Someone said 5 days for every missed payment. That would be about 2 years. Once I serve my time is the debt paid? How can she sit on this for 9 years while I'm supporting my kids and then once they are grown come after "her money" plus 12% interest.

[TC]

And therein is your problem.  She CAN NOT release you of this obligation....she has no right to do so without court support/sanction of agreement.  Was there a court order in support of this action?

Child support is for the children..not the CP....which is exactly why she had not the right to release you of the obligation.

Now, having said that, I am not sure a court is going to go after you very hard at this late date either...

And for the record....there are good attorneys out there...best I ever saw represented my ex....I would hire him in a heartbeat if I ever had the need.

TC

[livealittle]

statute of limitations on child support in AL is 20 years from the date the payment is due. It also accrues interest for arrearages at 12% per annum.

this per Lee in response to questions I had.

[m_t]

CS arrears CAN be released, but.... it has to be filed with the court. You're as much to blame as the ex if you didn't do so.

At the end of the day, your ex covered the support you were supposed to pay her. THEN, it was money for the kids. NOW, it is HER money because that's what she used to pay for their needs when you didn't, regardless of why.

[CollegeDad]

Actually, I believe the statute of limitations on any judgment is 20 years if you file for an extension at the ten year point.  And yes, the interest rate is 12%, meaning that the amount ordered doubles a little over every 6 years.  Got this from my attorney friend. 

Okay, I'm a little confused about your case.  First of all, I'm assuming that everything about your case took place in the state of Alabama, right?  The last time you were in court with your ex, the child support was modified and you were ordered to pay the arrearage that had accrued up until that time, right? 

Now this is important.... when were you ordered to pay arrearage and how much was it?  How much was the child support modified to at that time?  After that court case, did you go back to court at all?  After that court case, how much did you pay in child support?  How much did you pay in arrearage?

How many kids do you have?  What were their ages when you received the order modifying child support and arrearage?  Have any of them turned 19 years old yet?  How long ago was this? 

You say that you and your ex "agreed" between yourselves to settle for 7500 dollars in arrearage.  Did you pay her that 7500 dollars?  When? 

I hate to ask all of these questions but its hard for me to understand what you really owe based on what you've provided.  You seem to have accepted that you owe something like 19,000 dollars without much challenge on your part.  But, the law is very clear about all of this and based on the facts of what occurred when and by whom in your case will determine what you truly owe.  The attorney that is representing her is only hearing her side of the story.  If you are not represented then it doesn't sound like your side of the story is getting in front of the judge. 

If you had a judgment against you for X amount of dollars less than 10 years ago and your ex is now coming forward to extend that judgment then I can see how an orginal judgment that was 7K or 8K has now ballooned to 19K due to 12% interest and that is only if you paid nothing during that time.  If you did pay something on the arrearage, you should receive credit for what you paid. 

A judgment for arrearage is one thing but child support is completely different.  If you were ordered to pay child support and you didn't pay a dime and your ex didn't go back to court and hold you in contempt when you failed to pay, then she forfeits what ever you did not pay until the time that she brings it to court.  In other words, she will not receive an award for back child support if she never notified the court that you were not paying. 

So, you really need to talk to an attorney that handles family law and get this taken care of if some of the facts in your case might affect the judgment against you. 

Finally, one last thing, you can be put into jail for contempt not cooperating with the court but I doubt if your ex will pursue that remedy in your case because it serves no purpose to her for you to sit in jail and not make any money.  More likely what she will probably do is seek a garnishment of your pay from your employer to pay the outstanding debt.  Furthermore, she may take a judgement she receives against you and search for any and all real property in your name and place the judgment as a lien against any property that is currently listed in your name.  Then, whenever you go to sell that property, she will recieve her money first. 

So, in these scenarios, you wouldn't be going to jail and you would be paying eventually. 

[jb]

The local DA is pursuing this case with a vengence. My child support was improperly calculated and no one would listen to me to have it changed, 3 attorneys (all well known and thought to be very good in this community, all agreeing that the amount was excessive) could not convince the original Judge that the calculations were wrong. They based my CS on gross not net. I am a physician and the difference between those two figures is huge. I paid all I could pay during the time period in question but was still $19,000 in arrears. We signed an agreement which the judge ok'ed that I would make payments on the arrearage. During the time period I was to make payments she came to me and wanted $7500 cash within a week and said if I could get her the money she would release me from the $19,000. I paid her the $7,500 in cash and had her sign a mutual release that was witnessed. Now 9 years later she wants me to pay the entire $19K + 12% interest. Two Judges recused themselves from the case including the original Judge. The assigned Judge has heard the case. The DA and my attorney were given two weeks to make a written argument to support the opposing views. After reviewing their arguments he will make a decision. After I paid her, I thought we were done. I was under no court order to pay child support but contributed about $80,000 to my kids directly while they were under 19. They are 23 and 26 now. The oldest just had my first grandchild. When asked why she waited her response was she didn't pursue me until the kids were both grown, graduated college and had jobs, so that any money "due her" would not come from the money I was giving the kids. Her assertion was that they don't need my help anymore. Yeah right, I'm still helping them with expenses that their mother knows nothing about. They are my kids. I supported them as children, teens, college students and now as adults. I will give them anything the want or need as long as I have it, but I will not give their mother a nickel. It is my opinion the Judge will order me to pay the difference between $19K and $7500. I won't pay, so he will have to put me in jail. So how long can he keep me? I have no property, no bank accounts, nothing in my name. I am an employee of a corporation that is family owned. I reduced my stock to a minority interest several years ago preparing for retirement. They can try but they can't take anything from me. She's on a vendetta, has a husband that didn't know about the $7500 and is having financial difficulties.

[m_t]

They can try but they can't take anything from me.

And this is where you're very, very wrong. They can take a LOT from you. Whatever you own? They can place a lien on so you can't sell it. If you get a tax return? They can seize it. If you have a driver's license? They can suspend it. If you have a passport? They can flag it and arrest you if you try to leave the country. And your medical license? Oh yeah - they can take that, too. So you may want to look at solving this issue the legal way. 'Cause they can take a hell of a lot from you.

[jb]

m.t. I don't own anything, haven't had any real property in my name for many, many years. Tax returns; the CPA always work the math so I owe Uncle Sam a small amount at the end of the year nothing to get there. D.L. & Medical License take them, I'm pretty much self sufficient at this point for the rest of my life and they can't take it because it's not in my name and the individual who controls the money can't be touched. Paying her would take more from me than the government ever could, so how long can they keep me locked up? I'm prepared to do the time whatever it is.

[m_t]

Personally speaking, then you should be incarcerated. My suggestion to the judge would be to sentence you to however long it would take you to pay off that $43k at whatever wage you could earn doing prison jobs.

[Wolfy]

I am assumming that they can also garnish any future wages you make.

[CollegeDad]

I get a judgment of 31,890.41 from what you have provided.  That is the difference of 19,000 minus 7,500 that you have paid which leaves 11,500 dollars that you owe.  I'm assuming that the 7500 dollar payment was made the first year of the 9 years that you have been required to pay. 

As has been stated, whether you paid the children directly or not during that time, mom still had bills to pay for them that came out of her pocket if you were not giving her what she was due.  This is assuming that the children were not in charge of paying their own bills with any money that you gave them directly.  So, it seems, from what you have given, your attempts to spite mom, has only ended up spiting yourself I'm afriad. 

Are you thinking about doing this because you feel that some sense of mercy will kick in at some point on the Judge's part on your behalf?  If so, I believe you are going to be sadly mistaken because a judge is going to see right through that.  I'm concerned for you because if a judge feels that you are attempting to manipulate the system they may go the opposite direction and be more harsh than you are prepared for.  Your heroic attempts to avoid being controlled by your ex are going to become more of a statement of the foolish lengths that you are willing to go to avoid your obligations to your family than how unfair the world is treating you. 

The bottom line in this matter is your ex is not making this order against you.  The judge is.  This is not your ex controlling you.  She's turned it over to a judge now.  The judge is in control of your future in this matter.  That you've seen this as something your ex is doing against you is where you are mistaken.  I'm sorry that you failed to see this because this mistake has led you down the absolute wrong path on this matter. 

It seems, from what you have provided, that you are doing nothing to persuade the judge to do anything for you.  Do you agree?

[m_t]

It's my understanding that, for contempt of a court order, they can keep you incarcerated until you comply. Given that you've deliberately hidden assets, I would expect that the judge would order you to pay in full or to sit in jail until you do. I doubt you will find much sympathy, especially with your attitude.