Insight
July 8, 2026
Court orders in family law matters are not suggestions. Where a court has made an order dealing with parental rights and responsibilities which include maintenance, contact, care arrangements, relocation, the delivery of documents or any other obligation, the parties are expected to comply with it until it is varied, suspended or set aside by a competent court.
When one party does not comply, the other party may consider contempt proceedings. In family law disputes, this often happens when maintenance is not paid, contact arrangements are ignored, documents are withheld or one parent repeatedly acts in a way that undermines the terms of an existing order.
Contempt is not a simple shortcut to enforcement
A party who brings contempt proceedings must generally show that there is a valid court order, that the other party knew about the order or was served with it, that the order was not complied with and that the non-compliance was wilful and mala fide. In plain terms, the court must be satisfied that the party deliberately disobeyed the order without a proper basis.
A person may fail to comply with an order for many reasons. Some may be unacceptable. Others may be genuine, such as a real inability to pay, a misunderstanding about the terms of the order, or practical difficulties that were not created deliberately. Those explanations do not automatically excuse non-compliance, but they may affect whether all the elements required when considering whether the party is in contempt of a court order, has been proven.
Civil or criminal contempt?
The difference between civil and criminal contempt can also cause confusion, however numerous Judges have expressed their views and provided the necessary guidance when these applications are instituted, specifically in family law matters. Civil contempt proceedings are often brought by one party to compel the other party to comply with an existing order. Criminal contempt is concerned with conduct that undermines the authority of the court and may lead to punishment. In practice, the line can become blurred because civil contempt proceedings may still carry serious consequences, including committal to imprisonment in appropriate cases.
For that reason, courts require proper proof. Where a punitive or committal order is sought, the burden is not light. The allegations must be clear, the order must be precise, and the evidence must show deliberate non-compliance.
Keep proper records
Payments, messages, attempts to arrange contact, proof of delivery, correspondence and explanations for any difficulty in complying may all become relevant. A party who is genuinely unable to comply with an order should not simply ignore it. The safer course is to obtain legal advice and, where appropriate, apply to vary the order.
Contempt proceedings remain a powerful remedy, but they must be used carefully. They are best suited to cases where there is a clear order, clear knowledge of that order, clear non-compliance and evidence that the breach was deliberate.
