Enforcing Your Decree

What happens when the divorce is final, but the other side won't live by the terms.  Most decrees contain a mandatory mediation provision prior to resorting to relief from the Court.  Thus, the first step is to make a demand for mediation.  If mediation fails or the other party refuses to participate in mediation, you must file an order to show cause with the court.  This means the other party will have to answer to the court the allegations that you make against them for not following the decree.  These motions are quite frequent and often necessary to force the other party to deal with the issue.  You must know what specific relief you are seeking from the Court to make your motion successful.  When it comes to child support and parent-time issues, it is important to see it through so that there can be an actual finding of contempt.  This will strengthen your case later for harsher penalties and even for a change of custody should parent-time continue to be denied.  In other words, on the small stuff, mediation hopefully will work.  On larger issues, do what you need to do to enforce the decree to the letter.