Fort Lauderdale Post-Judgment Enforcement Attorney

Winning a divorce case or obtaining a final judgment is not always the end of the story. When the other party stops paying court-ordered child support, refuses to comply with a timesharing schedule, fails to transfer property as required by the marital settlement agreement, or simply ignores spousal support obligations, the order sitting in a courthouse file means nothing without enforcement. A Fort Lauderdale post-judgment enforcement attorney works to convert that paper order into actual compliance, using the courts to hold non-compliant parties accountable and restore what was promised to you under law.

Post-judgment enforcement issues are among the most frustrating experiences in family law because the legal groundwork has already been done. The court already decided. The agreement was already signed. Yet the other party’s non-compliance forces you back into the legal system through no fault of your own. Broward County courts see a significant volume of enforcement and contempt matters, and the procedural steps involved, from filing a motion for contempt to pursuing wage garnishment or license suspension, require the same level of legal precision as the original proceedings did.

At Sandra Bonfiglio, P.A., the firm’s focus on amicable resolution and mediation does not mean stepping back when court orders are violated. When cooperation breaks down and enforcement becomes necessary, this Fort Lauderdale family law practice handles the full range of post-judgment remedies available under Florida law, from civil contempt proceedings to modifications triggered by the other party’s conduct.

What Post-Judgment Enforcement Actually Covers in Florida

• Child Support Non-Payment: Florida law provides multiple enforcement tools for unpaid child support, including income withholding orders directed at employers, liens against real property, interception of tax refunds, and referral to the Florida Department of Revenue for administrative enforcement. Arrears can accumulate quickly, and interest accrues on unpaid amounts under Florida statute.
• Timesharing and Parenting Plan Violations: When a parent repeatedly denies court-ordered timesharing, interferes with pickups and drop-offs, or relocates a child without court approval, the aggrieved parent may petition for enforcement and potentially seek a modification of the parenting plan based on the pattern of non-compliance.
• Alimony and Spousal Support Defiance: Under Florida’s current alimony framework, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational alimony are enforceable obligations. A former spouse who stops making payments or unilaterally reduces the amount can be brought before the court for contempt, and the court has authority to compel payment and award attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.
• Property Division Noncompliance: Marital settlement agreements frequently require the transfer of real estate, retirement account divisions through qualified domestic relations orders, vehicle transfers, or business interest assignments. When the other party delays, stalls, or outright refuses, the court can compel compliance and hold the non-compliant party in contempt.
• Contempt of Court Proceedings: Florida courts distinguish between civil contempt, which is remedial and designed to coerce compliance, and criminal contempt, which is punitive. In family law enforcement matters, civil contempt is the most common vehicle. A finding of contempt can result in fines, attorney’s fee awards, and in some cases, incarceration until compliance is achieved.
• License Suspension for Child Support Arrears: Florida law authorizes the suspension of driver’s licenses, professional licenses, and recreational licenses for parents who fall significantly behind on child support. This tool is often a powerful motivator for securing payment from an otherwise unresponsive party.
• Wage Garnishment and Income Withholding: For ongoing support obligations, income withholding orders issued directly to an employer are among the most effective enforcement mechanisms because they remove the other party’s discretion entirely. The amount is deducted before the obligor ever sees the paycheck.

What to Do When a Court Order Is Being Ignored

The first and most important step is documentation. Before filing anything with the court, you need a clear record of exactly what the order requires, what was supposed to happen, and what actually happened instead. This means keeping a log of missed support payments with dates and amounts, saving text messages or emails in which the other party acknowledges or dismisses the obligation, and preserving evidence of denied timesharing, such as records of attempted pickups, communications about schedule changes, or witness accounts from family members or school officials.

In Broward County, enforcement proceedings are filed with the Family Law Division of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, located at the Broward County Courthouse at 201 SE 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale. You will file a Motion for Civil Contempt and Enforcement, which formally places your complaint before a family court judge. Florida courts take contempt of family law orders seriously, but the burden is on you to demonstrate the violation clearly and specifically. Vague allegations rarely produce results; specific, documented evidence of non-compliance is what moves the court to act.

If your enforcement issue involves unpaid child support, you have a parallel option through the Florida Department of Revenue’s Child Support Program. This state agency has its own administrative enforcement tools and can pursue income withholding, tax intercept, and license suspension without requiring you to hire private counsel. However, administrative enforcement can be slower and less responsive to the specific facts of your situation than direct court action through a Fort Lauderdale post-judgment enforcement attorney. For complex arrears situations or cases involving self-employed obligors, business interests, or substantial property, court-based enforcement with legal representation tends to be significantly more effective.

One mistake people make is waiting too long. Florida does not have an indefinite window for all enforcement remedies, and significant delays in pursuing contempt can sometimes complicate the record. The longer non-compliance continues unchallenged, the harder it can become to unravel the accumulated arrears, reassert timesharing rights, or force property transfers that have been blocked for years. Acting promptly when a violation occurs creates a cleaner record and often discourages ongoing non-compliance.

When Enforcement and Modification Overlap

Post-judgment proceedings are not always purely about enforcing what was already ordered. In many cases, repeated violations by one party trigger a legitimate basis to seek modification of the underlying order. Under Florida law, a substantial, material, and unanticipated change in circumstances can justify modifying a parenting plan, support obligation, or other judgment provision. A parent who has consistently violated a timesharing order may find that the court, in the context of an enforcement proceeding, is also willing to hear a petition to restructure the parenting arrangement entirely.

Similarly, a former spouse who has fallen behind on alimony may claim changed financial circumstances as a defense, which opens a parallel inquiry into whether the original obligation should be modified going forward. Handling enforcement and modification together, when both are warranted, can resolve the immediate violation while creating a more durable framework for the future. The attorneys at Sandra Bonfiglio, P.A. approach these combined proceedings with an eye toward what actually produces long-term stability for clients, particularly when children are involved and the parties will remain in each other’s lives through co-parenting responsibilities.

It is worth noting that enforcement proceedings, even contentious ones, are not the same as full-scale contested divorce litigation. Many post-judgment disputes can be resolved through focused negotiation or a targeted court appearance rather than extended litigation. When the other party understands that enforcement mechanisms are in place and being actively pursued, compliance often follows more quickly than anticipated. That said, some cases do require sustained court involvement, and having a post-judgment enforcement attorney in Fort Lauderdale who is prepared to follow through at every stage is what separates resolved cases from ongoing disputes.

Why Sandra Bonfiglio, P.A. Handles Post-Judgment Enforcement Matters

Sandra Bonfiglio, P.A. is a Fort Lauderdale-based family law practice serving clients in Broward County and St. Johns County, with a focus on uncontested divorce, mediation, and collaborative resolution. That foundation in cooperative process gives this firm a distinct perspective on post-judgment matters: the goal is always a lasting, workable outcome, not procedural combat for its own sake. When enforcement is necessary, it is pursued directly and efficiently, with the same attention to documentation and legal precision that characterizes the firm’s broader family law work.

The firm’s representation spans the full lifecycle of a family law case, from initial filing through final judgment and into the post-judgment phase where compliance issues arise. This continuity matters in enforcement proceedings because the attorney who understands the history of the marital settlement agreement, the parenting plan, and the original negotiation is better positioned to argue the scope and intent of those provisions when the other party tries to evade them. For clients coming to the firm fresh with an existing order from a different attorney, the team takes the time to understand the judgment in full before pursuing any enforcement strategy.

Questions About Post-Judgment Enforcement in Fort Lauderdale

What is the difference between a motion for contempt and a motion to enforce?

In Florida family law practice, both motions address non-compliance with court orders, but they carry different implications. A motion to enforce asks the court to compel compliance, for example, requiring the transfer of property or the payment of arrears, without necessarily seeking a finding of wrongdoing. A motion for civil contempt goes further: it asks the court to find that the other party willfully violated an order and to impose consequences designed to coerce compliance. Both remedies are often filed together when a violation is clear.

How long do I have to file an enforcement action after a violation occurs?

Florida does not have a single statute of limitations that applies uniformly to all family law enforcement actions. For child support, arrears generally remain collectible for a significant period, but waiting creates practical complications in proving the record of violation and may affect the court’s willingness to award full relief. For property transfer violations or other marital settlement agreement provisions, acting promptly avoids arguments that you waived your rights through delay. The safest approach is to consult with a Fort Lauderdale enforcement attorney shortly after a violation becomes apparent rather than waiting to see if compliance improves on its own.

Can someone go to jail for not paying child support or alimony in Florida?

Yes. While incarceration is not the first tool courts reach for, a Florida judge can order a party jailed for civil contempt if that party has the ability to comply with a support order and willfully refuses. The purpose of civil contempt incarceration is coercive rather than punitive, meaning the party can purge the contempt by making the required payment. Courts typically consider all available enforcement tools before imposing incarceration, but the possibility is real and sometimes serves as a significant motivator.

What happens if the other parent moves out of state and stops paying child support?

Florida is a party to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, which allows Florida courts to coordinate enforcement with courts in other states. If the non-paying parent moves to another state, a Florida court can still issue income withholding orders against their out-of-state employer, and the other state’s child support enforcement agency can be enlisted to assist. Interstate enforcement takes longer than in-state proceedings, but it is not a dead end. The parent’s relocation does not dissolve the obligation or make enforcement impossible.

My ex transferred property into someone else’s name to avoid our settlement agreement. What can I do?

This situation can implicate fraudulent transfer laws in addition to contempt proceedings. If a party transferred an asset with intent to deprive you of your court-ordered interest, Florida law provides remedies beyond ordinary enforcement, potentially including unwinding the transfer and imposing sanctions. These cases require prompt action and thorough investigation, as asset tracing and third-party transfers add complexity to an already contentious situation. A post-judgment enforcement attorney in Fort Lauderdale can assess whether a fraudulent transfer claim is viable alongside the contempt motion.

Can my former spouse reduce their alimony payments on their own without going to court?

No. A court order remains in full force and effect until a judge formally modifies it. A former spouse who unilaterally reduces or stops alimony payments based on their own assessment of their finances is in violation of the order, regardless of whether their circumstances have genuinely changed. The proper remedy for changed circumstances is to file a petition to modify the alimony obligation. Until a court grants that modification, the original amount is owed, and arrears accumulate on any shortfall.

What if the other parent is consistently late picking up or dropping off the children, but has never outright refused timesharing?

Persistent tardiness and scheduling disruptions can constitute violations of a parenting plan even when timesharing is not outright denied. If the behavior is affecting the children’s routines, creating conflict, or signaling a pattern of disregard for the order’s terms, documenting each instance and consulting with a family law attorney about whether the conduct rises to the level of contempt, or whether a modification is warranted, is the appropriate step. Courts evaluate parenting plan violations contextually, and a documented pattern of disruptive behavior carries more weight than isolated incidents.

How are retirement account divisions enforced after divorce?

Retirement account divisions typically require a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, commonly called a QDRO, which is a separate court order directing the plan administrator to divide the account as specified in the divorce settlement. If a former spouse delays signing a QDRO or the plan administrator has not received the required documentation, an enforcement action can compel compliance. QDROs have specific technical requirements that vary by plan type, so errors in the original QDRO process sometimes contribute to enforcement difficulties down the road.

Can the court award my attorney’s fees if I have to file an enforcement action?

Yes. Florida law gives courts broad discretion to award attorney’s fees and costs in contempt and enforcement proceedings. When one party forces the other back into court through willful non-compliance, courts frequently order the non-compliant party to pay the fees incurred in pursuing enforcement. This is not guaranteed and depends on the specific circumstances, but the possibility of a fee award is one reason enforcement proceedings carry real weight for the party in violation.

My former spouse claims they cannot afford to pay, but I believe they have hidden income. How is that addressed?

Florida courts do not simply accept a party’s self-reported inability to pay without scrutiny. In enforcement proceedings, you can request financial discovery, including bank records, tax returns, business records, and other documentation that reveals the actual financial picture. Courts can also impute income to a party who is voluntarily underemployed or concealing income. If the court finds that the party has the ability to pay but is choosing not to, a contempt finding is appropriate regardless of what the party claims about their finances.

Post-Judgment Enforcement Representation Across Fort Lauderdale and Broward County

Sandra Bonfiglio, P.A. represents clients throughout Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding communities of Broward County in post-judgment enforcement and related family law proceedings. Whether you are located in the downtown Fort Lauderdale corridor, the Flagler Village neighborhood, Victoria Park, Coral Ridge, or along the Intracoastal waterway communities, the firm’s team is familiar with the Broward County court system and the Family Law Division that handles enforcement matters for this region.

The firm also serves clients in the broader Broward County communities of Davie, Plantation, Sunrise, Weston, Cooper City, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Dania Beach, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, and Tamarac. Clients throughout the eastern Broward corridor from Lauderdale Lakes through North Lauderdale and into the western communities near the Everglades edge find that the firm’s Fort Lauderdale location provides accessible representation without requiring them to navigate unfamiliar courts in distant jurisdictions. The firm also serves clients in the St. Augustine area through the St. Johns County court system, applying the same enforcement strategies to judgments entered in that jurisdiction.

Contact a Fort Lauderdale Post-Judgment Enforcement Lawyer Today

A court order that is being ignored is not just an inconvenience. It is a disruption to your finances, your parenting relationship, and the resolution you worked to achieve. Sandra Bonfiglio, P.A. is ready to help you take the concrete steps necessary to hold the other party accountable under Florida law. Whether the issue involves unpaid support, property transfer delays, or repeated parenting plan violations, the firm’s approach as a Fort Lauderdale post-judgment enforcement lawyer is focused and practical, aimed at achieving real compliance rather than prolonging conflict.

Call Sandra Bonfiglio, P.A. to schedule a consultation and discuss what enforcement options are available for your specific situation. The sooner you document the violation and begin the legal process, the stronger your position will be before the Broward County court.