Divorce proceedings are complex. It comes with an abundance of emotional disasters. If parting ways with your ex-partner involves disagreements with the alimony, you must take the long route to claim it. It is not unusual for your ex-husband to refuse to pay the alimony, but if you take the proper steps, you can get the alimony. In this article, we have put together a list of steps one can take to sort out their alimony payment.

1.  Find The Alimony Petition

You must first get the alimony order signed by the court that clearly states that your ex should pay your alimony, as per the spousal support requirement.

If you are unclear where to get this document, you should speak to your divorce lawyer immediately. They will be able to assist you with it.

Once you can locate it, you should thoroughly go through the alimony details. Review the amount, payment schedules, and when it should be paid within. Remember that you cannot move forward with your alimony claims without this paper.

This is slightly easier for couples who agree to sign a prenup before marriage. According to The Hive Law, having a prenup ensures that assets and finances are being distributed as per the prenuptial agreement. So make sure that you also look at the terms and conditions, if you agree to sign a prenup with your ex-partner.

2.  Gather Records of No Payments Being Made

If you clearly understand when, how much, and how long they are supposed to pay for spousal support, you’re already a few steps ahead. Collect records of those missed payments with dates and proof that the money never made it to your bank account.

Usually, alimony payments are transferred directly to bank accounts or by cheque. Pull up your bank statements to show non-payments, and mark them clearly for that particular period.

The best option is to print statements from when the alimony was supposed to be paid. If you have not received it consecutively for three months, you must also bring that to the court’s attention.

3.  Request a Reinforcement Order

If you were successful at gathering proof of missed payments, you next must get in touch with your divorce lawyer. They will guide you to request the court to look into your matter. In other words, they will file a petition to ask the court to reopen your case.

Your divorce attorney will prepare all the required documents to file a motion and move forward to ensure that your ex-husband receives a notice from the court about his failure to provide spousal support in the form of alimony.

4.  Hold Your Ex in Contempt

After filing the motion for enforcement, if your ex-husband does not cooperate with you or the court orders, you mustn’t stop. You still have a few options up your sleeves.

The next thing to do is get a court order to Show Cause. This is a situation when one party refuses to show up for court, and they are forced to attend the court hearing to explain why they failed to make alimony payments.

Your job is to ensure that these orders are correctly delivered to him so that he is notified and cannot make excuses for missing the orders.

5.  Issue a Warrant

If you have already asked the court to hold your ex-husband in contempt, you might as well request an arrest warrant for missing court dates or failing to make alimony payments. This step is usually taken when they have repeatedly missed court orders and dates and have also been running away from notices.

Sometimes, they show up at the court to avoid a warrant, but often they still refuse to make payments afterwards. For such cases, you must issue an arrest warrant, provided you have records of your bank statements, etc.

6.  Ask for an Income Withholding Order or Garnishment

If your ex-husband starts to show a pattern of missing alimony payments, you have the option of finding a way around it. Just simply, as for an income withholding order. This means you have to get in touch with your ex-husband’s current employer to prove that he is being paid. If it is approved, your ex-husband’s employer is bound to give you alimony payment from their paychecks.

For an income withholding order to be processed and approved, you may have to allow at least four to six weeks. Once it’s appointed, you will start receiving your payments, and you no longer have to chase up for spousal support.

Another option that is very similar to an income withholding order is garnishment. It means that you can request for their salaries to be set off. However, this is only applicable for future payments, not past due or missed payments.

Garnishment is deducted directly from their bank account and transferred to your account.

Conclusion

Apart from the above tips, there are a few more methods of acquiring due alimony payments. Some of those options are selling off assets or properties, etc.

If you are struggling to get in touch with your ex-husband, who is refusing to make alimony payments, you should not waste any more time waiting for him to get in touch with you. Rather, use this time to get in touch to hire a divorce lawyer.  Remember, these legal proceedings can sometimes take months, so it’s always best to take the right steps at the right time.