You may be one of many Americans living in Ohio who has been served paperwork for contempt of court. Usually if you are served paperwork for contempt of court, it usually means that you haven't fulfilled your obligations created in a previous court order. You may have been through a divorce, dissolution, legal separation, or annulment and the court has ordered certain rights and responsibilities after the marriage such as child custody, visitation, parenting time, child support, spousal support, or the paying of certain debts. Perhaps you have had a child out of wedlock and there is a court order establishing your parental rights and responsibilities. If you fail to fulfill your obligations in the court order, you can be held in contempt of court.

Perhaps there has been a frivolous contempt charge filed against you that you need to resolve. The court must first find that the party being accused of contempt of court violated a court order. An example would be not paying child support or spousal support. Other examples would be not following the established parenting time schedule or defaulting on bills that a court order states you are responsible to pay. If the party is found in contempt, they could have penalties including paying attorney fees, paying court costs, paying court fines, and up to 30 days in jail. An experienced Columbus Ohio Family Law Attorney will be able to take the necessary legal action to prevent you from going to jail and getting stuck with a huge bill. Legal counsel can tell your side of the story and help keep bad things from happening. The friendly law office of Ralph A. Kerns & Associates is committed to providing excellent representation, which includes carefully explaining to our clients every legal option available to them under the applicable law. We are here to help you through this difficult time and we are always available to answer your questions. We have helped people through a wide range of family law and domestic matters for over 30 years. We are qualified to practice in any county in Ohio and familiar with each county's local rules. Through friendly service and aggressive representation, we ensure our client's rights are protected. We never hesitate to act quickly and efficiently when time is of the essence. Call today for a free consultation. Help is one phone call away!