Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida child support

What happens when a parent refuses to pay child support in Florida? The parent could be held in contempt of court and sentenced to jail in extreme cases. In Pace v. Pace, 5D18-2343 (Fla. 5th DCA May 1, 2020), the appellate court reviewed the case of a father who contested the trial court’s finding of contempt against him.

In the parties’ final judgment of divorce, the former husband was ordered to pay the former wife child support and alimony. He was repeatedly held in contempt for failing to pay. The former husband testified he was unable to get a job in the industry in which he was previously employed because of poor credit and because his mugshot appeared online for his previous failures to pay support. He obtained a position selling cars but was not yet earning enough to pay the court-ordered support. Evidence was presented that a friend had loaned him money to get a lawyer and that friends had loaned him money to pay previous purge amounts when he was sentenced to jail for contempt. Based on this, the court found the former husband had the ability to pay support, reasoning that he could have asked friends to loan him money as he did before. The former husband appealed.

The appellate court reversed, holding “The trial court must have competent substantial evidence as a basis for finding that the obligor has the ability to pay. [citation omitted] .However, ‘the payment of the purge amount does not establish that [a party has] the ability to pay under the applicable legal standard. [A] one-time payment does not establish the ability to pay the order on an ongoing basis.’ [citation omitted] It is error for a court to conclude that a party has the ability to pay based on the fact that the party can borrow money from a third party to pay the judgment. [citation omitted] [. . .] Finally, a court’s determination that a party is willfully refusing to seek out a kind of employment that would allow the party to meet its domestic support obligations is not sufficient to support a finding that the party has the present ability to pay a support obligation for contempt purposes.”

If you are having trouble making your support payments, contact a Miami family law attorney to go over your options. You may qualify to have your payments lowered to match your current earning ability.