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Spousal support, often called alimony, is a court-ordered payment from one spouse to another. Spousal support is usually ordered to cover the living expenses of one of the spouses after a divorce or separation in a marriage where one spouse is in a much better financial situation than the other. If your spouse is not obeying a spousal support order, there are legal steps you can take with the help of a San Mateo alimony lawyer.

There are two types of spousal support, and it’s important to understand which type you’re talking about to know whether it’s really being improperly withheld. Temporary alimony is only paid during the actual divorce proceedings. The purpose of temporary alimony is to address your immediate financial needs until the divorce itself can be completely worked out. Once the final divorce decree is laid down, temporary alimony ceases. At that point, you may then start receiving long-term support, or you may not, depending on the final divorce decree. If you’ve been receiving temporary support and your divorce is now finalized, those temporary support payments should stop.

If your spouse has been ordered to pay you long-term support, this is usually done to allow you to enjoy a similar standard of living as you had during the marriage until you can become self-supporting. This type of alimony may be ordered for a certain amount of time, until you become self-supporting, or until you finish a particular degree or job training course. Long-term alimony usually stops if you remarry and, of course, if either you or your spouse pass away. Spousal support can also be ordered when domestic partners separate, though it will be called “domestic partner support” in that case. Alimony is usually figured on the basis of income discrepancy. The court will also take into consideration domestic violence and the length of your marriage, as well as the lifestyle you enjoyed while married as it makes decisions about spousal support.

The first thing to do is to contact a lawyer. There are very few options that are open to you that don’t require you to go through the court, and that’s going to go a lot more smoothly with a lawyer on your side. With the lawyer, you don’t have to risk the courts thinking that this is just a dispute between two ex-partners that isn’t really serious. Your lawyer will dig up the evidence, present it convincingly, and represent you effectively.

You’re going to need to be able to prove that your spouse has not been paying the support that’s ordered. You’ll need to check the court order that originally detailed how much support should be paid as well as its schedule and for how long, just to make sure you haven’t made a mistake and it’s actually time for the support to end. You also want to give the court a copy of this support order. 

Then, you’ll want to submit all the financial records that show the money not dropping into an account or only partial payments coming in. If you have any emails or texts from your spouse saying that they won’t pay or promising to pay later and not following through, keep all of this.

Before you go to court, the one thing you should try is to communicate with your ex-spouse. Now, it should go without saying that you should only do this if it is safe. If you were in an abusive relationship, and especially if your spouse has restraining orders against them, don’t attempt to contact them on this issue. Just go to your lawyer directly. 

But assuming that’s not the case, a conversation could clear things up. Sometimes there’s a good reason behind the nonpayment. Maybe your ex-spouse is facing a genuine financial hardship, and a conversation might allow you to resolve the matter without escalating. In other situations, just letting your ex-spouse know that you’ve contacted a lawyer and will be pursuing legal options is enough to motivate them to start paying as they should. They could be holding off, just hoping that you won’t take it any further. Be sure to keep all records of communication attempts and give them to your lawyer, as they can be used to show that you have made a good faith attempt to resolve the issue in a non-adversarial manner.

The courts in California have a number of tools at their disposal to enforce alimony orders. The tool that’s chosen will depend on your situation and the preference of the court. Here’s some of what you can expect:

Sometimes an Earnings Assignment Order is issued automatically with the support order, but it might not be in your case. This order directs the paying spouse’s employer to deduct support payments directly from their paycheck and send them either to you or to the State Disbursement Unit (SDU) if child support is also involved. The employer must comply within 10 days of receiving the order. 

If wage garnishment is not already in place, the court can order it once you show that your spouse has not been paying alimony as required. However, if your ex-spouse is self-employed or works for cash, this method obviously doesn’t apply, and you’ll need a different tool for enforcement.

If your ex-spouse has been willfully ignoring the order for support even though they have the ability to pay it, you can file a motion for contempt of court. You’ll have to fill out an affidavit with the court and explain the noncompliance. If the judge holds your ex-spouse in contempt of court, they will have to pay fines, do community service or, in some extreme cases, even do jail time. Sometimes just the threat of a contempt of court charge is enough to push someone to comply.

If your ex-spouse works for cash or is self-employed, one tool the state can bring to bear is placing a lien on their property, like cars or real estate. This means that they won’t be able to sell or refinance this property until the debt they owe for alimony has been paid. The court can also order banks to levy your ex-spouse’s accounts. This means the accounts are frozen and funds are withdrawn to cover back alimony. 

Another option the courts may use is to suspend the paying spouse’s driver’s license or any professional licenses they may hold. They can also report the unpaid support to credit bureaus, which will harm your ex-spouse’s credit score.

If your ex-spouse has any state or federal tax refunds coming, the state can confiscate it to pay alimony. The same is true of any lottery winnings your spouse may get.

There are many things that the state of California can do to deal with an ex-spouse who won’t obey support orders. To get help, contact Seeley Family Law in San Mateo now to set up a consultation.