I Live In Pasco County, FL But My Alimony Award Is From Another State - Now My Former Spouse Is Not Paying So What Do I Do?

It can be very frustrating when a spouse quits paying alimony, upon which you are relying to pay your bills. The court system can be extremely slow and collecting alimony can be tough. However, if you want to enforce your court order to make your spouse start paying again, you have no choice but to go back to court.

In most cases, you will not have to travel back to the state from which your divorce order was obtained. However, in order to require your spouse to pay, a court will need personal jurisdiction over him or her. Therefore, you will need an attorney in the state in which your former spouse currently resides. If it’s Florida, where you live, you can use a local attorney. Otherwise, you will need to find an attorney in the state in which he or she is located.

The attorney may be able to file a petition with the court in that state in order to enforce the prior court order in the new state. Once the court order has been filed in the new state, the attorney can file a motion for contempt for the non-payment of alimony. Although this process will not be quick, it’s the only way to legally enforce your rights and to begin receiving alimony again, unless your spouse decides to start paying you on his or her own.