St. Louis Post-Judgment Enforcement Attorney

Post-Judgment Enforcement After a Divorce

After a divorce, most former spouses are left with a set of strict legal orders governing the division of property, child custody, child support payments and other financial matters. Unfortunately, not all divorced spouses respect those orders, even though following them is no more optional than paying taxes or obeying traffic laws. Asking the courts to force a former spouse to live up to these legal obligations is called post-judgment enforcement.

Page Law helps clients with all types of post-judgment enforcement concerns, including:

• Nonpayment of child support and/or spousal maintenance.
• Failure to comply with child custody or visitation orders.
• Enforcement of property division.
• Division of any assets not divided in the divorce.

Unfortunately, nonpayment of child support is one of the most common post-judgment conflicts; the U.S. Census Bureau found in 2001 that only 44.8% of parents got all the child support they were entitled to. People who don’t pay child support or spousal maintenance in Missouri are subject to contempt orders for failing to follow the agreements they themselves made. They may also be liable for criminal prosecution. Tonya D. Page can file a court motion for you ordering a wage garnishment, driver’s license suspension or other action against the non-paying parent. She can also advocate for you and help with paperwork for the Missouri Family Support Division, which is the state agency charged with forcing “deadbeat” parents to pay. You may be awarded interest and attorney fees as well as the unpaid support.

Unfortunately, Missouri custody and visitation rights are also a common post-judgment enforcement issue. Again, the law is not sympathetic to parents who willfully deny visitation or custody to the other parent. When one parent withholds custody or visitation rights in Missouri, Tonya D. Page can help you file a motion for contempt. If the court decides in your favor, the other parent could be liable for a $500 fine, attorney fees and court costs. He or she may also have to give you extra visitation time to make up for that time that was denied; go to counseling; or post a bond to ensure no future violations. In extreme cases, custody arrangements may be revoked or changed.

Divorce is hard, but a former spouse who withholds money, visitation or property is making it harder than it should be. At Page Law, we can help you show your ex that you’re serious about enforcing your rights. Sometimes, a polite but informative phone call is enough — but if necessary, we’ll take your case to court. To speak confidentially about your post-judgment enforcement options, call today for a no obligation case evaluation.