Iowa Law Blog : Iowa Lawyer & Attorney : Sullivan & Ward Law Firm : Iowa Law Blog

On May 20, 2008 a man from central Florida will stand in front of a Judge and possibly be sentenced to five years in prison for failing to pay hundred of thousands of dollars in child support. Robert Abraham, age 65, pleaded guilty in mid-March to failing to pay $651,000 in child support for his three children. The charges marks the first time anyone in his county of residence has been charged with a felony for neglecting to make child support payments.

Often custodial parents face the same ordeal, although owing hundred of thousands of dollars is rare. In Iowa, the custodial parent can bring a contempt action in court for non-payment and each missed monthly payment may be the basis for individual counts of contempt. If the non-custodial parent has missed many months, the counts can add up (26 counts in a case I handled last year). The court can employ many remedies which are set out in the Iowa Code including forcing the non-custodial parent to post bond equal to months of future-owed payments, fines and jail time - up to 30 days for each finding of contempt.

Abraham further demonstrated his lack of intelligence when he declined to settle his $651,000 child support debt for $200,000.

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The Iowa Court of Appeals recently reviewed what remedies are available when aparent fails to pay child support. In John Martin Farrell v. Iowa District Court for Polk County, the Iowa Court of Appeals annuled the district court's finding that a father was in default for failing to pay extracurricular activities but sustained a finding of contempt.

A parent refusing to pay child support or other support such as extracurricular activities (when required by the decree) is a common occurrence. In its decision, the Farrell court outlined the difference between "contempt" and "default." If a parent "willfully" fails to pay child support on time there is a good chance s/he will be found in contempt--or willful noncompliance with a court order. There are defenses to a charge of nonpayment of support as outlined in the Farrell ruling.

A court can also find that although the payor's behavior wasn't willful, s/he nonetheless contravened the decree and issue a finding of default, or a technical violation. Either way, both of these may be viable options if a parent fails to pay support in a timely fashion.

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Recently, J. Benjamin Stevens, an attorney with the South Carolina firm of Stevens MacPhail posted a good blog on dating after divorce. Like Mr. Stevens points out, many of my divorce clients ask whether they can allow their child around a new boyfriend/girlfriend following a divorce.

While you may meet resistance from your new ex-spouse, having your child around a new girlfriend/boyfriend is permissible so long as s/he acts appropriately, doesn't have something in his/her past (such as a recent child abuse conviction) that is inappropriate, and the new person isn't there overnight. However, with respect to the latter, this may be more applicable in a new relationship before the child has time to adjust to the divorce and the parent's new relationship. There comes a point when overnights typically occur however, discretion and consideration for the child's feelings should be paramount.

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