My ex has broken the visitaion schedule many times by not picking up the kids or showing up late. What would happen (if anything) if I file contempt of orders papers? My poor 6 year old does not take disappointment easily when his dad shows up late or even worse, not at all.

Contempt of court is an action that can be filed or it is a status of an individual. It means the person has willfully disobeyed a court order.

The result? The defendant could be incarcerated if a warrant for arrest is issued by the court.

In California, if a defendant is determined to be in contempt of court in a contempt action for failure to pay child support, it could mean 5 days in jail for every missed payment that was willful, going back as much as three-years.

Hope this helps.

Ronn,

What if he shows up 4 hours late to pick up the child and gets mad when you close the door in his face and decides to kick it in?

Ronn, I'm interested in clarification on this. I had been of the understanding that visitation could not be enforced, as in no contempt for not following through with visitation regularly. Obviously non-payment can be but do you happen to know about the visitation part?

Inni, That sounds like breaking and entering to me and is a criminal offense.

The police said it's only a misdemeanor, vandalism .... and they doubted the DA would prosecute. It seems, since he was there to pick up Nicolas, he had the right to be there, and since he did not actually "enter" , merely kicked in the door - it's only breaking. lol ... laws are funny sometimes.

I too, would like to find out what the policy is on a parent who frequently does not show up for scheduled visitation.

A non-custodial parent is deemed to have voluntarily waived his/her visitation by not showing. thereis no contempt for that. Witholding visitation is contemptable