Question about attorneys fees for contempt

[critterperson]

What is the name of your state?Illinois

In October, my ex was found in contempt and ordered to pay my attorney's fees associated with having to bring the petition.....My question is...If he doesn't pay my attorney what recourse do I have? My attorney waited until Monday (over a month) to send a bill for reimbursement for these costs... I am currently looking at a $1000.00 bill for 1 hour of her time at our last court date to show up and have the judge say “yes you are in contempt, and I will give you 60 days to pay up or go to jail”....My ex apparently wants to go to jail.......I know I have to pay it (I practically cried writing the check) but how do I make my attorney put forth the effort to get him to pay it back?…The judge ordered him to pay it directly to my attorney...not to me...

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[brisgirl825]

What is the name of your state?Illinois

In October, my ex was found in contempt and ordered to pay my attorney's fees associated with having to bring the petition.....My question is...If he doesn't pay my attorney what recourse do I have? My attorney waited until Monday (over a month) to send a bill for reimbursement for these costs... I am currently looking at a $1000.00 bill for 1 hour of her time at our last court date to show up and have the judge say “yes you are in contempt, and I will give you 60 days to pay up or go to jail”....My ex apparently wants to go to jail.......I know I have to pay it (I practically cried writing the check) but how do I make my attorney put forth the effort to get him to pay it back?…The judge ordered him to pay it directly to my attorney...not to me...

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

This is going to suck but you'll have to pay your atty to file contempt charges or do it yourself, pro se. Basically do what you just did and it'll cost you atleast court costs and filing fees.

 

[critterperson]

This is going to suck but you'll have to pay your atty to file contempt charges or do it yourself, pro se. Basically do what you just did and it'll cost you atleast court costs and filing fees.

Thanks...That is what I thought...I was just unsure if I could file contempt on this because the debt isn't payable to me it is payable to my attorney....So basically my attorney gets paid by me to go after him to pay her...I personally think that stinks but such is life.....I made my bed so I guess I'll sleep in it! My kids are worth it I hope I get to see the dummy meet bubba...He is homophobic

Thanks again

 

[betterthanher]

Thanks...That is what I thought...I was just unsure if I could file contempt on this because the debt isn't payable to me it is payable to my attorney....So basically my attorney gets paid by me to go after him to pay her...I personally think that stinks but such is life.....I made my bed so I guess I'll sleep in it! My kids are worth it I hope I get to see the dummy meet bubba...He is homophobic

Thanks again

And if you file on your own pro se (no reason why you shouldn't), you can also ask for your ex to pay for all of your filing fees associated with that particular filing as well. Eventually, he'll start to see a pattern if he doesn't pay and you have to continuously file contempt paperwork. That pattern being HIM paying for your filing and attorney fees.

 

[critterperson]

And if you file on your own pro se (no reason why you shouldn't), you can also ask for your ex to pay for all of your filing fees associated with that particular filing as well. Eventually, he'll start to see a pattern if he doesn't pay and you have to continuously file contempt paperwork. That pattern being HIM paying for your filing and attorney fees.

Could I file pro se contempt on him, and still have my attorney for the other matters that have not been handled yet? We are going on two years of nothing...basically the c/s is still a temporary order as well as his visitation...The child support is only 1/3rd of what should have been ordered because he wasn't being honest from the beginning (we knew this and it took forever to get his info) also, when this started I was pregnant with our second child…. so no support for him yet (or visitation)...he is a year old... At our last court date the judge told the attorneys that he would have to have a DNA test done on our second child, and the judge held him in contempt for failure to support our first child.....
(he has to pay for it) When or if he ever does this, (the judge gave him 30 days for the DNA and the 30 days have come and gone) the judge told the attorneys in chambers that he would be responsible for back child support including what he wasn't paying, and should have been paying due to his dishonesty....The judge wasn't happy with the ex.............I really know how to pick them

 

[betterthanher]

Could I file pro se contempt on him, and still have my attorney for the other matters that have not been handled yet?

If your attorney hasn't handled it, I can't see any reason why you couldn't file on your own (as long as the time limit has expired for him).

We are going on two years of nothing...basically the c/s is still a temporary order as well as his visitation...The child support is only 1/3rd of what should have been ordered because he wasn't being honest from the beginning (we knew this and it took forever to get his info) also, when this started I was pregnant with our second child…. so no support for him yet (or visitation)...he is a year old...
At our last court date the judge told the attorneys that he would have to have a DNA test done on our second child, and the judge held him in contempt for failure to support our first child.....
(he has to pay for it) When or if he ever does this, (the judge gave him 30 days for the DNA and the 30 days have come and gone) the judge told the attorneys in chambers that he would be responsible for back child support including what he wasn't paying, and should have been paying due to his dishonesty....The judge wasn't happy with the ex.............I really know how to pick them

If there isn't a support order for the second child, then he is not legally obligated to pay any support.

Did the Judge officially issue an Order to Establish Paternity?

 

[critterperson]

If your attorney hasn't handled it, I can't see any reason why you couldn't file on your own (as long as the time limit has expired for him).


If there isn't a support order for the second child, then he is not legally obligated to pay any support.

Did the Judge officially issue an Order to Establish Paternity?

Yes he did...We were dealing with the other things for my first child before my second was even born....I didn't go after him for this... he brought the petitions for both children....I never asked for child support, and he saw our oldest all of the time....He wanted to be able to legally lay claim to them...He was hoping to use them for his taxes (he didn't want to pay anything, and he expected to be able to play every day) He was in my house every day....I finally told him to limit his visits to a couple times a week because I needed a life too....He got upset, and brought the first petition when our son was 18 months old.... His problem is that he wants to claim his boys but he doesn't want to pay child support for them....He thought he could go into court and get everyday visitation, and not have to pay child support
At our last court date the judge told the attorneys that he will be paying for both of our children dated back to their respective birth dates, and the judge wanted to wait until after the DNA test to put the arrearages into an order, to save having to do it twice....Of course after hearing that he was in the "hole" big time.... he is in no hurry to get the DNA....Will this ever end?

 

[Content]

Yes he did...We were dealing with the other things for my first child before my second was even born....I didn't go after him for this... he brought the petitions for both children....I never asked for child support, and he saw our oldest all of the time....He wanted to be able to legally lay claim to them...He was hoping to use them for his taxes (he didn't want to pay anything, and he expected to be able to play every day) He was in my house every day....I finally told him to limit his visits to a couple times a week because I needed a life too....He got upset, and brought the first petition when our son was 18 months old.... His problem is that he wants to claim his boys but he doesn't want to pay child support for them....He thought he could go into court and get everyday visitation, and not have to pay child support
At our last court date the judge told the attorneys that he will be paying for both of our children dated back to their respective birth dates, and the judge wanted to wait until after the DNA test to put the arrearages into an order, to save having to do it twice....Of course after hearing that he was in the "hole" big time.... he is in no hurry to get the DNA....Will this ever end?

Ummm...probably the time the kids turn 18 or there about if your lucky.

 

[critterperson]

Ummm...probably the time the kids turn 18 or there about if your lucky.

If he wants this responsibility he will be paying for college too In Illinois they do allow for 1/2 of college .....He may never pay off the arrearage amount...In Illinois you pay 9% annual interest on arrearages, and at the last court date it was estimated that he owed approx $27,000 in back support from birth... (if you count the order for my youngest that has not been put in place yet,) and it keeps going up the longer he draws this out..The judge already said that he will be paying from birth... so at a minimum he will be in the hole for $27,000........Not that I will ever get it, but I can hope!

 

[Content]

If he wants this responsibility he will be paying for college too In Illinois they do allow for 1/2 of college .....He may never pay off the arrearage amount...In Illinois you pay 9% annual interest on arrearages, and at the last court date it was estimated that he owed approx $27,000 in back support from birth... (if you count the order for my youngest that has not been put in place yet,) and it keeps going up the longer he draws this out..The judge already said that he will be paying from birth... so at a minimum he will be in the hole for $27,000........Not that I will ever get it, but I can hope!

At least you are smart enough to realize you will probably never see it. It kills me how many people will assume that since there is an order that the money will just magically appear each month and then get upset when problems occur and the money doesn't come in and they can't pay their bills. Good luck, maybe things will get better.