What is the punishment for contempt of court?
I hope this helps but I am currently filing a contempt of court and the Public Defender is stating that I cannot due to the fact that its past due meaning the Statue of Limitation. This Public Defender is wrong. I was advised in California that you can collect that percent you're speaking of but you must enter it in the paperwork. I didn't do that so I loss out of the percent. I may lose this case cuz I have no Attorney. I am going in their with every bit of what I think is evidence to hold this contempt. Of course, some Judges don't want to waste court time so they just slap a 500-1000 fine without any type of enforcement of the money due you. Be prepared for anything in court. Some states have different rules and procedures. Just look for evidence such as where these bank account are located. You can subponea her bank statements. If you have an Attorney that person should request all her financial obligations including the bank statements. If she doesn't comply than she will be found guilty. As for the charges she will just get a fine. The jails are too crowded to hold a minor offense like this so don't be jumping up and down. I am feeling the crunch with my contempt. I had to mail the Public Defender my burden of proof. I may never get to argue my case and they may just slap my ex with a 500 fine that will be applied to the other contempt of court for a criminal matter. He got 5 days served which means no actual behind the bars stay in a cell situation only the money of 1000. Thats nothing. But with that previous contempt and this one plus another one that I added I really don't know what the outcome may be. I am feeling I'll lose my case since I am representing myself as Pro Per. Not every answer will give you what you look for but just google your percentage question and see what comes up. My contempt is for Spousal Support since 2005 so we're looking at 32 months of percentage. If I read the procedures for contempt it states if you're found guilty since the first beginning of the court order they count that day to the currrent. That for you may be 50-60 days in jail for your ex now this is just a guess. For mine, I think my ex would get 6 mos jail time but I could be wrong. My paper states 5 days for each time you violate the court orders. I took 12 mos times 5 day equal 60 days. I just wish the courts would be more toughe on people who don't follow court orders.
Can I sue a collection agency for harassment?
When dealing with a collection agency you have to know your rights. THEY certainly know what they can get away with. Your rights are different in every state. From what you say here, it sounds like you have a case against them. Look up your state govt.'s website (usually statename.gov or stateabbreviation.gov). See if there is an agency in your state government that regulates collection agencies, that you can report them to. They can make them stop. You can't really sue them for harassment, only if they hurt you in some way--like attaching your wages, calling you at work and getting the management angry with you, or file fake info on your credit report. Those things are actually worth money, and a lawyer might take you on a contingency basis. Harassment is only annoying, not actually worth money.
Husband was never served with child support papers, now he has to pay.?
My husband has a 22 year old son. When he divorced his wife, he was granted joint custody, but the child support was to be worked out between him and his ex wife. The entire life of his son, he had his son during the summer and paid his mother $400 a month during the school year to provide support for his child. Now the child is 22 and he is being garnished for $389 per month in child support arrears. Although he was actively involved in his son's life, paid the mother child support and she knew exactly where he lived all these years, he has to pay all this back child support. We found out that the mother put the father on child support when she divorced him but never told him anything about it. Instead she continued to collect the money he was giving her all these years outside of the order. The order that she had was for $250 per month and he was willingly giving her $400 per month, so she decided to be foul. When it came time for him to be served, she would give the courts all kinds of fake and phoney addresses that she knew were not his. She lives in Texas, he lives in Kansas, she would give them Oklahoma addresses, and Texas addresses. All this time she knew exactly where he was and failed to provide the accurate information to the courts. I believe she did this because if he was served, then she would stop getting the $400 per month and only get the $250 that the order stated. My husband was never served, his check was never garnished, his taxes were never garnished or taken away, throughout this childs entire youth years, there was no triggers that would clued him in to owing any type of child support or of there having any type of order for him to pay. Now his child is 22, and here comes a order stating that he owes 35,000 in back child support, that he had no clue about. He contacted his sons mother to see what all this was about, she admitted to him that she had put him on child support but never informed him, and she now wants all of this other money also. He contacted the Texas attorney general's office who informed him that there is nothing they can do about him never being served, and that he owed the debt. What can he do to stop the garnishment. We have heard that he can fight this because he never was served, but he can't afford an attorney. Is there anything he can do?