Can You Be Held in Contempt for Failing to Pay Child Support in Maryland?
Child support is a legal obligation. Among other things, this means that a parent who willfully defies a court order to pay child support can be found in contempt of court. Maryland law classifies contempt as either “direct” or “constructive.” The former, direct contempt, refers to acts of contempt committed directly in the presence of a judge. Constructive contempt occurs outside of court and can include things like, say, refusing to pay child support when requested by the other parent under a lawful order.
Once a judge determines a parent is in contempt for failure to pay child support, the next question is whether that contempt is “civil” or “criminal.” Holding a person in civil contempt is basically the court’s way of coercing that individual to comply with the court’s order, i.e., pay child support. Criminal contempt, in contrast, is simply a punishment for defying the court and can include fines and even jail time.
Appellate Court Finds Insufficient Ground to “Pierce” Corporate Veil of Father’s LLC
Even in the context of a civil contempt proceeding, however, there can be some limits to how far a court can go in compelling a party’s compliance. This came up in a recent Appellate Court of Maryland case, Ross v. Ross, involving a particularly contentious divorce. The mother and father in this case married in 2003 and had three children. In 2017, the father filed for divorce and petitioned for sole custody of the children. The mother cross-petitioned for sole custody. In 2019, a Maryland judge granted an absolute divorce and awarded sole custody to the mother, granting the father only limited visitation rights.
The court also ordered the father to pay child support of $6,000 per month. A few weeks after the divorce became final, the mother filed a petition for contempt, alleging the father was not making the required support payments. The father replied with his own petition for contempt, alleging the mother was not making the children available for visitation and otherwise failing to comply with the terms of the final divorce decree.
After several more court appearances, the trial judge found both parents in contempt. With respect to the father, the judge held he still owed about $87,000 in back child support. The court previously ordered garnishment of the father’s wages. In what the mother alleged was an attempt to circumvent that garnishment, the father had his wages from his real estate brokerage paid to a limited liability company (LLC) where the father was the sole member.
The judge granted the mother’s request to “pierce” the LLC’s corporate veil and enforce the child support order directly against the LLC. The Appellate Court found this was going a step too far. While it otherwise upheld the civil contempt judgment against the father, the Appellate Court said there was no precedent in Maryland allowing a third party like the mother to pierce a corporate veil in this manner. And given the trial judge did not make an “express finding” that the father used the LLC to fraudulently conceal his assets–the court only found it “suspicious”–this was not the case to establish such a precedent.
Contact a La Plata, Maryland Child Support Lawyer Today
Emotions often run high in child custody and child support disputes. But all parents must respect the judicial process and not take the law into their own hands. Our La Plata, Maryland, child support lawyer can advise you on the proper steps to take if you are dissatisfied with your co-parent’s compliance with your divorce settlement or judgment. Contact Fanning Law, LLC today to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in LaPlata, Waldorf, and Lexington Park.
Source:
scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15781450139033017201
