Quick answer: If someone willfully violates a Georgia divorce, custody or support order, the other party can file a motion for contempt in the Superior Court that issued it. In civil contempt, the judge can jail the violator until they comply, but must set a purge condition they are able to meet (Hughes v. Department of Human Resources, 1998). In criminal contempt, a Superior Court can impose up to a $1,000 fine and 20 days in jail per violation (O.C.G.A. § 15-6-8(5)). Courts can also award attorney’s fees. Scot Sikes files and defends contempt actions in Columbus and the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit.
A court order is only as good as its enforcement. When child support stops, parenting time is denied, or an ex refuses to sign over a car title or refinance a house as the decree requires, Georgia law gives you tools to make the order work. If you are the one accused, the law also gives you defenses.
What Contempt Is
Contempt is the court’s power to enforce its own orders. To hold someone in contempt, the judge must find that they knew about a clear court order and willfully failed to obey it. There are two types:
- Civil contempt is meant to force compliance. The judge sets a purge condition, such as paying the arrears or delivering the child, and the person can end any jail sentence by meeting it. A court may not keep someone jailed for civil contempt when they are genuinely unable to purge (Hughes v. Department of Human Resources, 269 Ga. 587 (1998)).
- Criminal contempt punishes a completed violation. A Superior Court may impose a fine up to $1,000, jail up to 20 days, or both, for each separate act of contempt (O.C.G.A. § 15-6-8(5)).
Common Contempt Cases in Columbus
- Unpaid child support or alimony. The amount owed is usually provable from payment records. The issue is willfulness: could the person pay?
- Denied or interfered-with parenting time. Missed exchanges, refusing calls, or moving without the required 30-day notice.
- Property division. Failing to transfer a title, refinance a mortgage, pay a debt assigned in the decree or deliver property.
- Military-specific terms. Failing to sign SBP elections, cooperate with a retired pay division order, or keep a former spouse on required insurance.
How the Process Works
- File a motion for contempt in the court that entered the order, attaching the order and describing each violation.
- The court issues a rule nisi setting a hearing, and the other party is served.
- At the hearing, the moving party shows the order and the violation. The burden then shifts to the other party to show the failure was not willful, for example because of a genuine inability to pay.
- The judge can find contempt, set purge conditions, order make-up parenting time or payment plans, and award attorney’s fees.
Attorney’s Fees
Georgia judges can award reasonable attorney’s fees in contempt cases arising from divorce and alimony orders, including contempt over property division, custody or visitation terms in those decrees (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-2), and in custody actions (O.C.G.A. § 19-9-3(g)). The court considers both parties’ finances. A clear record of the violations and of your attempts to resolve them helps.
Child Support Enforcement Beyond Contempt
- Georgia DCSS. The Division of Child Support Services can pursue income withholding, license suspension, tax refund intercepts and other administrative remedies, sometimes without a court hearing.
- Military pay. Support can be collected from active-duty and retired pay through DFAS garnishment or an involuntary allotment once arrears build up.
- AR 608-99. A soldier who violates the support terms of a court order also violates Army Regulation 608-99, which is punitive under the UCMJ. See AR 608-99 family support.
- Interstate cases. If the other parent lives in another state, the order can be registered and enforced there under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.
Defending a Contempt Motion
- Inability to pay. Job loss, medical problems or a cut in military pay can defeat willfulness, but you must show real effort and documentation.
- Payment or compliance. Bring records of every payment and every offered exchange.
- Unclear order. A person cannot be held in contempt of an ambiguous provision.
- The better fix. If circumstances have truly changed, file a modification rather than falling behind. Contempt enforces the order you have; it does not rewrite it.
Talk With Scot Sikes
Consultations with Scot Sikes are $200 and cover your specific situation, the Georgia law that applies and your realistic options. Call 706-494-6900 or use the contact page. The office is at 5 Bradley Park Court, Suite 101, Columbus, GA 31904, about 15 minutes from Fort Benning’s main gate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you go to jail for not paying child support in Georgia?
Yes. A judge can jail a parent found in willful contempt, usually with a purge amount that releases them on payment. The court cannot keep someone jailed for civil contempt if they are truly unable to pay the purge (Hughes v. DHR, 1998).
What is the maximum jail sentence for contempt in Georgia?
For criminal contempt, a Superior Court may impose up to 20 days in jail and a $1,000 fine for each separate act of contempt (O.C.G.A. § 15-6-8(5)). Civil contempt can last until the person complies, as long as they are able to comply.
Can I get my attorney’s fees paid in a contempt case?
Often, yes. Georgia law authorizes fee awards in contempt cases arising from divorce and alimony orders (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-2) and custody orders (O.C.G.A. § 19-9-3(g)).
What can I do if my ex keeps denying my parenting time?
Keep a record of each denied exchange and file a motion for contempt. The judge can order make-up time, attorney’s fees and other sanctions. Repeated interference can also support a request to modify custody.
Can child support be taken from military pay?
Yes. Support can be collected from active-duty or retired pay through DFAS garnishment or an involuntary allotment, and a soldier who ignores a support order also violates AR 608-99.
Is contempt the same as modification?
No. Contempt enforces the existing order. If income or circumstances have changed, the right step is a petition to modify, and you remain bound by the current order until the court changes it.
More answers: see our Columbus, GA and Fort Benning family law FAQ.
About the author. Scot Sikes founded the Law Offices of Scot Sikes in Columbus, Georgia, in 2006. He earned his J.D. at Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law, was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1999, and served as an Army judge advocate (trial counsel, Senior Defense Counsel and Deputy Staff Judge Advocate) before retiring from the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel in 2017. His practice centers on family law, military divorce and military family law in the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, and courts have qualified him as an expert witness on dividing military property in divorce. Read Scot Sikes’s full profile. Law Offices of Scot Sikes, 5 Bradley Park Court, Suite 101, Columbus, GA 31904 · 706-494-6900.
Last updated November 2026. Sources: O.C.G.A. § 15-6-8(5) (contempt penalties); Hughes v. Department of Human Resources, 269 Ga. 587 (1998); O.C.G.A. § 19-6-2 (attorney’s fees in divorce and alimony cases); O.C.G.A. § 19-9-3 (custody, relocation notice, deployment rules); Georgia Division of Child Support Services; Army Regulation 608-99, Family Support, Child Custody, and Parentage (13 Nov. 2020). This page is general information about Georgia law, not legal advice for your situation.