News Regarding Contempt of Court & Enforcement in an Orlando, Florida Case
- December 20, 2017
- ontarget
- Blog
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The Florida Supreme Court in its decision Family Law Forms-Amendments-Notice of Hearing on Motion for Contempt/Enforcement in Support Matters, 42 Florida Law Weekly S960 (Dec. 14, 2017), has amended Form 12.961 Notice of Hearing on Motion for Contempt/Enforcement because of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Turner v. Rogers, 564 U. S. 431 (2011), and the current provisions of Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure 12.615 Civil Contempt in Support Matters.
In the amendments to form 12.961, there is language added to the form in order to clearly notify the alleged contemnor that his or her present ability to pay is a critical issue in the proceeding and that he or she will be provided an opportunity during the contempt hearing to respond to allegations and questions about his or her financial status.
Additionally, to conform to current requirement under 12.615, they amended the form to advise the alleged contemnor whether the proceedings will be recorded electronically or by court reporter.
This new form notice is effective immediately.
What does this all mean? That means that this form is in effect now. That means that this new form should be used immediately from now on when you are setting a hearing on a Motion for Civil Contempt. This is the Notice of Hearing Form that you must use going forward. You must include the above- mentioned language in your notice of hearing.
If you have filed a Motion for Civil Contempt and Enforcement in Orlando, Florida with the court, and are now setting the motion for hearing, you must make sure that in your notice of hearing you tell the other party that his or her ability to pay is a critical issue in the proceeding. You must also tell the other person that he or she will be provided an opportunity during the hearing to tell his or her side of the facts/story and respond to questions about his or her financial status.
You also need to tell the other person whether the proceedings will be recorded electronically or whether you are getting a court reporter who will be present and take down what is being said in court. You need to quote the language in the amendments to form 12.961 in your notice of hearing.