To file a motion for contempt in family court, you must identify a clear court order, describe exactly how the other party violated it, provide evidence supporting each allegation, file the required documents, and properly serve the other party.
The name of the filing depends on the state. In Utah domestic-relations cases, the document is generally called an Ex Parte Verified Motion to Enforce Domestic Order and for Sanctions. In Idaho family-law cases, contempt proceedings ordinarily begin with a motion and affidavit.
Filing the motion does not automatically mean the other party will be found in contempt. The moving party must prove the alleged violations at a hearing or trial. If you’re considering filing a motion for contempt, contact a Salt Lake City family lawyer from Brown Family Law today.
Step One: Read the Existing Court Order
Start with the actual signed order, decree, or judgment. Do not rely on your memory of what the judge said or what the parties discussed during mediation. The court will usually begin with the language of the written order.
Locate the provision that required the other person to:
- Pay child support or alimony
- Reimburse medical or childcare expenses
- Follow a custody schedule
- Provide parent-time
- Return a child at a particular time
- Transfer property
- Refinance a debt
- Sign a deed or other document
- Divide a retirement account
- Maintain insurance
- Follow communication restrictions
- Complete counseling or another court-ordered program
- Comply with a protective order
The provision should be clear enough for the court to determine what the person was required to do.
An order stating that a parent must return a child every Sunday at 6:00 p.m. is relatively specific. Language requiring the parents to act “reasonably” may be harder to enforce through contempt unless the surrounding facts establish a definite obligation.
Get Clear Guidance for Your Divorce
Step Two: Confirm That Contempt Is the Correct Procedure
Contempt is used to enforce an existing court order. It is not ordinarily used to change an order for the future.
A motion for contempt may be appropriate when someone knowingly refuses to comply with a current requirement. A different filing may be needed when:
- The current custody schedule no longer works
- A parent’s income has changed
- The ordered child-support amount should be adjusted
- A parent wants to relocate
- The parties need a permanent change to parent-time
- The order is too vague to enforce
- A money judgment needs to be collected
- An out-of-state order has not been registered
- An emergency requires immediate custody protection
For example, a parent who cannot afford the existing support amount may need to file a petition to modify support. Simply stopping payment can create arrears and expose that parent to enforcement proceedings.
Likewise, a parent who wants a different custody arrangement generally must request a modification. That parent should not begin following a preferred schedule while ignoring the existing order.
In some cases, enforcement and modification must be pursued at the same time.
A Calmer, Clearer Way Through Divorce
Step Three: List Each Violation Separately
A contempt motion should not simply state that the other party “never follows the order.”
Create a separate entry for each alleged violation. Each entry should explain:
- The date of the violation
- The provision of the order involved
- What the order required
- When compliance was due
- What the other party did or failed to do
- How the person knew about the order
- Why the person had the ability to comply
- What evidence supports the allegation
- What loss or harm resulted
For example:
Paragraph 14 of the Decree of Divorce entered March 10, 2026, requires Respondent to reimburse 50% of uninsured medical expenses within 30 days after receiving documentation. On April 2, 2026, Respondent received the attached invoice and receipt for a $600 medical expense. Respondent acknowledged receiving the documents in a text message dated April 3, 2026. Payment of $300 was due May 2, 2026. No payment has been received.
That statement is more useful than saying, “My former spouse refuses to pay medical expenses.”
Specific facts help the court understand the claim and give the responding party fair notice of what must be defended.
Step Four: Collect Evidence
Each allegation should be supported by reliable evidence.
Possible exhibits include:
- The signed court order or decree
- Child-support payment histories
- Bank statements
- Canceled checks
- Electronic payment records
- Medical or childcare invoices
- Proof that reimbursement requests were sent
- Text messages
- Emails
- Parenting-application records
- Parenting calendars
- Exchange records
- School attendance records
- Travel records
- Insurance documents
- Property-transfer documents
- Loan or refinancing communications
- Retirement-account records
- Receipts showing financial losses
- Photographs
- Police incident reports
- Witness statements or testimony
Do not overwhelm the court with hundreds of unrelated messages. Select the evidence that proves the required facts.
Screenshots should show enough context to identify the participants, date, and complete conversation. Messages should not be edited in a way that changes their meaning.
A chronological chart can be particularly helpful when the motion concerns repeated missed payments, denied visits, late exchanges, or reimbursement requests.
Step Five: Decide What Relief to Request
A motion should tell the court what you want it to do.
Depending on the violation, the moving party may request:
- An order requiring immediate compliance
- Payment of past-due support or alimony
- A judgment for money owed
- Reimbursement of medical or childcare expenses
- Make-up parent-time
- Return or transfer of property
- Execution of a deed or other document
- Completion of a retirement-account transfer
- A deadline for refinancing
- Reimbursement of transportation or other losses
- Attorney fees and court costs
- Interest on unpaid amounts
- Additional procedures intended to prevent future violations
- A formal finding of contempt
- Legally authorized sanctions
The requested relief should address the actual violation.
For example, if the dispute concerns denied parent-time, requesting make-up time and clearer exchange provisions may be more practical than asking only for a fine. If the dispute concerns unpaid support, the moving party should provide an accurate calculation of the amount owed.
Contempt sanctions can be serious. A request for incarceration involves additional procedural protections and should not be made casually.
Step Six: Prepare the Motion and Affidavit
The motion identifies the order, describes the violations, and requests relief.
The affidavit or verified portion of the motion provides the facts supporting the allegations. A verified motion is signed under oath or penalty of perjury as required by the applicable rules.
Before signing, check:
- The court name
- The names of the parties
- The case number
- The title and date of the order
- The paragraph numbers being enforced
- Every alleged violation
- The requested relief
- Exhibit labels
- Dates and financial calculations
- Signature and verification requirements
The person signing an affidavit should generally state facts based on personal knowledge. Arguments, rumors, and conclusions are not substitutes for evidence.
A knowingly false statement in a verified motion or affidavit can create serious legal consequences.
Step Seven: File the Motion in the Correct Court
A contempt or enforcement motion is ordinarily filed in connection with the case in which the underlying order was entered.
Use the existing case caption and case number unless the applicable procedure requires a separate petition. If the order came from another state, it may need to be registered before a local court can enforce it. Utah Courts specifically notes that an out-of-state custody or support order generally must be registered in Utah before enforcement.
Documents may be filed electronically or through the court clerk, depending on the state, county, attorney status, and local filing requirements. Keep filed copies of every document. The filed copies should show the date of filing and, when available, the clerk’s file stamp. Brown Family Law can help ensure you file the motion in the correct court.
How to File a Motion for Contempt in Utah
Utah no longer ordinarily uses the old “Order to Show Cause” procedure for enforcing domestic-relations orders. Since May 2021, the filing has generally been handled as a motion to enforce.
Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 7B[a], a party seeking enforcement or sanctions must file an Ex Parte Motion to Enforce Order and for Sanctions in the same case in which the order was entered. In family cases, Utah’s official forms refer to the filing as an Ex Parte Verified Motion to Enforce Domestic Order and for Sanctions.
Utah Filing Requirements
The motion must:
- Identify the title and date of the order
- Be verified or supported by at least one affidavit
- Include facts based on personal knowledge
- Present facts that would be admissible as evidence
- Explain how the other party violated the order
- State the relief and sanctions being requested
The moving party must generally file:
- Ex Parte Verified Motion to Enforce Domestic Order and for Sanctions
- Supporting documents and exhibits
- Request to Submit for Decision
- Proposed Order to Attend Hearing
The appropriate forms are available through the Utah Courts enforcement page.
The word “ex parte” does not mean the court can finally find the other party in contempt without notice. It refers to the court’s preliminary review of the motion before deciding whether to schedule a hearing. Contact Brown Family Law for more information.
Utah Service Requirements
If the court issues an Order to Attend Hearing, the moving party must serve the order, motion, affidavits, and supporting papers at least 28 days before the hearing.
The method of service depends on whether the other party is represented:
- If the other party is not represented, service must generally comply with Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 4.
- If the other party is represented by an attorney in the case, service is generally made on the attorney under Rule 5.
For purposes of Rule 7B, a person may be considered represented if the attorney filed or served a document in the case within the preceding 120 days and has not withdrawn.
After completing service, the moving party should file the appropriate Proof of Service or Certificate of Service.
A written opposition is not required, but if one is filed, it ordinarily must be filed at least 14 days before the hearing. The moving party may file a reply at least seven days before the hearing unless the court sets a different schedule. Additional procedures apply when the motion will be heard by a court commissioner.
Special Utah Parent-Time Procedure
Some parent-time disputes in Utah’s Third Judicial District follow a special mediation process.
The procedure may apply when:
- The case is in Salt Lake, West Jordan, Summit, or Tooele County, and
- The motion alleges a denial of parent-time.
The moving party files the motion, supporting documents, and a Parent-Time Dispute Referral Form. The court then generally refers the matter to mediation before scheduling an enforcement hearing. Exceptions may apply, including cases involving domestic violence.
What Must Be Proven in Utah?
At the hearing, the moving party generally must prove that the other person:
- Knew about the order
- Had the ability to follow the order
- Willfully failed to comply
The moving party bears the burden of proof.
If contempt is established, Utah law permits a district court to impose a fine of up to $1,000, incarceration for up to 30 days, or both. A court may also compensate an injured party for qualifying losses, costs, and expenses caused by the contempt.
These sanctions are not automatic. The court may instead order compliance, enter a money judgment, award make-up parent-time, establish a corrective deadline, or impose another appropriate remedy.
Common Filing Mistakes
A contempt motion may be weakened by avoidable errors, including:
- Relying on an informal promise instead of a court order
- Failing to quote or identify the violated provision
- Grouping many violations into one vague accusation
- Omitting dates
- Using incorrect financial calculations
- Failing to explain how the other person knew about the order
- Seeking a modification through an enforcement motion
- Attaching irrelevant or incomplete communications
- Filing in the wrong court
- Using outdated forms
- Missing service deadlines
- Serving the wrong person
- Failing to file proof of service
- Requesting sanctions without explaining the requested corrective action
- Missing the hearing
The moving party should review the filed papers from the perspective of someone who knows nothing about the dispute. The court should be able to understand what the order required, how it was violated, and what remedy is being requested.
Should You Send a Demand Before Filing?
A formal demand is not always legally required, but a clear written request for compliance can be useful.
The notice might:
- Quote the relevant provision
- Identify the violation
- Request compliance by a reasonable date
- State the amount claimed
- Include supporting invoices or receipts
- Offer a practical way to correct the problem
- Preserve a professional record of the communication
A demand may resolve the dispute without court involvement. If it does not, it can help show that the other person knew about the obligation and had an opportunity to correct the violation.
A demand is not a substitute for emergency action when a child or another person faces immediate danger.
What Happens After the Motion Is Filed?
After filing, the process generally includes:
- Court review of the motion
- Issuance of a hearing notice or order to attend
- Service on the responding party
- A written response or initial appearance
- Preparation of evidence and witnesses
- A hearing or contempt trial
- A written ruling
The judge may deny the motion, enforce the order without finding contempt, find the person in contempt, award financial relief, impose corrective requirements, or order additional proceedings.
The moving party should continue documenting violations while the motion is pending. The original order remains effective unless the court changes or stays it.
Do You Need an Attorney to File a Motion for Contempt?
A person may be able to file without an attorney, but contempt proceedings can become complicated quickly.
Legal representation may be especially important when:
- Jail is requested or may be considered
- The order is unclear
- Multiple violations are involved
- A substantial amount of money is disputed
- Custody or parent-time is being denied
- The other party claims an inability to comply
- Property or retirement benefits have not been transferred
- The responding party filed a countermotion
- Witness testimony is required
- The case involves an out-of-state order
- A protective order or safety concern is involved
- The other party has an attorney
An attorney from Brown Family Law can help select the correct procedure, draft the allegations, prepare admissible evidence, complete service, and present the requested remedies clearly.
Contact Brown Family Law Today
Filing a motion for contempt requires more than telling the court that the other person has behaved unfairly.
The moving party must identify a clear court order, describe each violation specifically, support the allegations with evidence, request an appropriate remedy, file the correct documents, and complete service according to state rules.
In Utah domestic-relations cases, the filing is generally an Ex Parte Verified Motion to Enforce Domestic Order and for Sanctions under Rule 7B. In Idaho, family-law contempt proceedings begin with a motion and affidavit under Idaho Rule of Civil Procedure 75.
Brown Family Law can help determine whether contempt, enforcement, a money judgment, modification, or another remedy is appropriate.
