questions & answers

Question: My baby's father has been in contempt of court "at least" 2 times. This last time the judge told him, "If you haven't made some kind of payment before the review hearing in 2 months...you will go to jail." Well he had not made any payments and the judge didn't do anything about it except give us another review hearing in 2 months. I don't understand why he is getting away with contempt of court and more than once. What can I do?

Answer: I'm afraid that there is no way to *make* the judge hold someone in contempt of court. It's probably frustrating for you, and I'm sorry about that, but there is very little you can do about it. However, you do have the right to file a motion asking the judge to convert any arrearage (back payments owed) into a civil judgment that you can use to attach the father's property. That may not mean much if he has no assets (e.g. house, car, boat, tangible property), but the judgment may prove valuable in the future. You will find the procedure at A.R.S. § 25-503(L). You should also explore the possibility of trying to garnish his wages. Information about wage garnishment can be found at A.R.S. § If income withholding does not work, you can also ask the judge to require the father to post a bond to guarantee overdue child support under A.R.S. § 25-503(B).