Enforce
Maintenance in Colorado
Individuals may
wonder what power they have to enforce their maintenance
agreement once their divorce is final?
Your maintenance agreement is part of the Court order that
finalizes your divorce. When a Court order is not followed,
the Court has broad powers to enforce that order. Given the
circumstances of your case there are a number of options to
assure that maintenance is paid in accordance with the Court
order.
In some cases, a wage assignment can be done at the
time your divorce becomes final. If a wage assignment is
part of the Court’s Support Order, a Notice to Withhold
Income for Support is sent to the employer of the party
owing maintenance and the funds will come directly out of
their paycheck to the party receiving maintenance.
Another option at the time of divorce is to participate in
the Family Support Registry. This can be done through
agreement of the parties or through an order of the Court.
The purpose of the Family Support Registry is to monitor
child support and maintenance payments. The party paying
maintenance sends their payments to the Family Support
Registry. The Registry then records the payment and sends
the maintenance payment amount to the party receiving
maintenance. If there is a problem with payment down the
line, the Family Support Registry will report out on the
payment history. This record will be taken as evidence by
the court and presumed to be accurate.
Options
for Enforcing Maintenance in Colorado
If maintenance payments are not paid in accordance with the
Court order then there are a number of options. Which option
is best depends on the circumstances of your case.
-
Support Judgment: You
may file a Verified Entry of Support with the Court to
show that the party paying maintenance has not complied
with the Support Order. The Court will then file a
Support Judgment that gives you the power to garnish the
opposing party’s wages and/or bank accounts. The Support
Order can also include interest on the delinquent funds
owed as well as attorney’s fees for having to enforce
the Order.
-
Contempt of Court:
Another option is to bring a Motion for Contempt. The
Court will set up a Contempt Hearing where it is
expected that both parties will be present. At the
Hearing, the Court will take evidence on payment or
non-payment of maintenance. The Court can also ask
questions to discover what financial resources are
available for payments. The Court also has the power to
garnish accounts or wages and may impose punitive
damages including jail time for non-payment of child
support. The Court can award interest on delinquent
payments as well as attorney’s fees. The Court can also
order that all future payments be done through wage
assignment. Attorney’s fees are only awarded if no
punitive sanctions are imposed. A Contempt Hearing is a
quasi-criminal proceeding.
-
Negotiation: In some
cases there is a possibility that by bringing an
attorney into the process that you may be able to work
with the opposing party to resume payments and deal
effectively with delinquent payments.
If you would like to
ask one of our attorneys a
question about enforcing maintenance in Colorado or skip
that step and come in for a
consultation, we encourage you to do so sooner rather
than later.
What makes Matthews &
Matthews a better choice to help you with you Colorado
Maintenance Enforcement Action? |
