The support is months behind, or the weekend exchanges keep not happening, or the paperwork they were ordered to sign is still unsigned. You did this the right way. You got the order. And the other side is treating it like a suggestion.

Underneath the anger is a quieter question: does the paper actually mean anything, and will making it mean something cost more than what you're owed?

It means something. Here's how. Call Good Life Legal at 850-362-7228, or complete the form on this page and we will call you.

Reviewed for legal accuracy by Matthew Ausley, Attorney.

The plain-English definition

Enforcement in Florida is defined as asking the court to make an existing family court order effective when the other party isn't complying: unpaid child support or alimony, an ignored parenting plan, or a property division that was ordered but never carried out. The order itself already decided who owes what; enforcement is about compliance, not re-argument. The court has real remedies, and which one fits depends on the order and the violation, which is exactly what an enforcement case is built around.

Four things that shape every enforcement case in Florida:

  • Support and property enforce differently. Unpaid child support or alimony can be enforced through the court's contempt power (Said v. Bell, Fla. 2d DCA 2025; Bowen v. Bowen, Fla. 1985). A property-division money award is collected the way any court judgment is collected, through creditor remedies, not contempt. One exception matters: when the judgment orders a specific act, like signing a deed, the court can enforce that act directly (Roth v. Roth; Williams v. Williams). Knowing which track your order runs on is the first strategic fact of the case.
  • Fee exposure runs both ways. Fla. Stat. § 61.16 expressly covers enforcement proceedings: the court can order one party to pay the other's attorney's fees after weighing both parties' financial resources.
  • Enforcement moves on a shorter path. The mandatory disclosure exchange that paces a contested divorce does not apply to enforcement and contempt proceedings (Fla. Fam. L. R. P. 12.285, by its own scope).
  • Unauthorized moves have verified teeth. Relocating a child 50+ miles for 60+ consecutive days without written agreement or court approval brings contempt exposure, compelled return of the child, and a mark against the relocating parent in later proceedings (Fla. Stat. § 61.13001).

Local pro tip: the law behind enforcement is the same in all 67 Florida counties, but the clerk's numbers are not. What an enforcement filing costs at the clerk's counter varies by county; your local guide carries your county's particulars, including which courthouse hears your case. The public cost of standing up for your order is usually a fraction of what the original case cost.

An ignored order doesn't enforce itself

You're worried that chasing what you're owed costs more than the debt. You're worried that nothing will actually happen to someone who ignores the order. And some nights you're tempted to answer their violation with one of your own.

The first two worries have good answers: the clerk's cost of filing is usually small, the fee statute can shift costs, and courts take their own orders seriously. The third one deserves a plain warning, because it's the mistake that turns the wronged parent into a respondent.

Here's the thing most people don't realize: answering a violation with a violation creates two problems where there was one. If support isn't being paid, the answer is enforcement, not withholding the schedule. If the schedule is being ignored, the answer is enforcement, not withholding support. Document everything, retaliate with nothing, and let the order do its work.

What tolerating a violated order actually costs

Keeping the peace is a real instinct, and sometimes patience is right. But a violated order that goes unanswered has costs worth seeing plainly.

  • The arrears grow, and so does the proof problem. Every unpaid month adds to what you're owed, and every undocumented month makes the record thinner. Start a simple log today: dates, amounts, missed exchanges. Enforcement runs on records.
  • The violation becomes the routine. In families across Florida we watch informal patterns harden: the skipped weekend becomes the assumed weekend. The longer a violation stands unchallenged, the more normal it feels to everyone, including the kids.
  • An unauthorized move gets harder to unwind. If a child has been moved 50+ miles without agreement or court approval, § 61.13001 gives the court real responses, including compelled return. Time matters: schools enroll, routines form, and every month makes the unwinding harder on the child.
  • Nothing gets scheduled by itself. Enforcement cases move at the speed of whoever pushes them. Hearings in Florida's circuits are requested and noticed, never automatic, and a case nobody pushes sits.

Sometimes the right move really is a conversation, not a courtroom. But that should be a choice you make with the leverage in view, not a default you drift into. The first call is free, and ten minutes tells you what your order supports: 850-362-7228.

How enforcement moves through a Florida courthouse

Enforcement goes back to the court that entered your order, in the county where your case lives. The road is the same across Florida; what changes county to county is the ground it crosses: which courthouse, what the clerk charges, how hearings get set. Your local guide below carries your county's particulars. Here's the sequence.

  1. The leverage conversation. Ten minutes by phone, no charge: what does the order say, what's the violation, what's it worth to fix. If it's worth pursuing, the consultation is one hour with an attorney, $150 prepaid, and you leave with your options and your total fixed price in writing. Sometimes the honest advice is that you need a modification, not enforcement, and we'll say so.
  2. The record. We assemble the proof: the order, the payment history, the missed exchanges, the unsigned documents. For unpaid support, we also weigh the Florida Department of Revenue's Child Support Program, the state's own collection authority, as a track that can run alongside or instead of private enforcement.
  3. Filing with your county's Clerk. Enforcement reopens your existing case rather than starting a new one, and the clerk's cost is set county by county, usually a fraction of what the original case cost to open. Your local guide carries your county's numbers.
  4. The shorter path. Enforcement and contempt proceedings skip the mandatory disclosure exchange that paces a contested divorce (Rule 12.285, by its own scope). Many violations resolve here, because a served motion with a clean record changes behavior on its own.
  5. The hearing, requested, not waited for. We request the hearing date at your courthouse and notice it properly. The court hears the violation and chooses the remedy that fits the order, and under § 61.16 it can weigh both parties' financial resources on attorney's fees.

Find the divorce guide for your community

We have written local guides for many of the communities we serve: your courthouse, your clerk, your county's filing costs, your county's way of doing things. Start with the town you'd say you're from.

Don't see your town? These are starting points; we serve communities across North and Central Florida, more local guides are on the way, and your nearest guide above links to its neighbors.

The firm that wrote orders like yours knows how to enforce one

We build parenting plans and settlement agreements in Florida's family courts every week, which means we know exactly where orders have teeth and how to engage them, and attorney David Diaz brings more than 20 years and over 1,000 mediations to disputes that are better resolved than escalated.

Enforcement is where fixed fees matter most, because the math is unforgiving: chasing what you're owed can't be allowed to cost more than the debt. Your fee here is fixed in writing before we file anything, so you can weigh the whole decision with real numbers, and § 61.16 means the court can consider both sides' resources on fees.

"An order is a promise the court made to your family. Our job is making sure it gets kept."

We don't take every case, and when the honest answer is a conversation or a modification instead of a contempt motion, that's the advice you'll get. Fixed fee, in writing, before you hire us. Founded in 2016. Bilingual: English / Spanish.

Three terms worth understanding before anything else

Contempt

The court's mechanism for addressing a willful violation of its own order. Florida draws the line carefully: civil contempt exists to coerce compliance, not to punish, so a judge can only jail someone for unpaid support after separately finding they presently have the ability to pay the purge amount (Bowen v. Bowen, Fla. 1985). A support order also carries a built-in presumption that the payer can pay, which the nonpayer must rebut. Contempt reaches support obligations; a property-division money award is collected through creditor remedies instead (Said v. Bell, Fla. 2d DCA 2025), though a judgment ordering a specific act, like signing a document, can be enforced directly (Roth v. Roth; Williams v. Williams). What an enforcement filing costs at the clerk's counter varies by county; your local guide carries your county's particulars. The served motion alone often restarts payments and schedules before anyone sees a courtroom.

Fee-shifting

Florida's family fee statute covers enforcement proceedings: the court may order one party to pay a reasonable amount of the other's attorney's fees and costs after considering the financial resources of both parties. The Florida Supreme Court describes its purpose plainly: both sides should have a similar ability to obtain competent counsel (Rosen v. Rosen, Fla. 1997). It exists so that enforcing an order isn't a privilege of the better-funded parent, and it does not reward defiance: a party who is not complying with the order cannot collect fees under it in an enforcement proceeding (Fla. Stat. § 61.16).

The disclosure exemption

The mandatory financial disclosure exchange that paces a contested divorce does not apply to enforcement and contempt proceedings, by the rule's own scope. That's why enforcement runs a shorter procedural path than the case that created the order, and why a clean record matters more than new paperwork (Fla. Fam. L. R. P. 12.285).

The questions people ask when the order gets ignored

My ex stopped paying child support. What can I do?

Two tracks exist: the Florida Department of Revenue's Child Support Program, the state's collection authority, and private enforcement through your case. Which track fits depends on how much is owed, how fast you need movement, and what else in the order is being violated. The clerk's cost of acting is usually small, and your local guide carries your county's numbers.

Can someone actually go to jail for not paying support in Florida?

Yes, for a willful violation, but only after the judge separately finds the person presently has the ability to pay the purge amount. The person jailed must hold the key to their own cell. That is the rule from Bowen v. Bowen, and it means a nonpayer with money and a nonpayer without money are two different cases. Where there is truly no ability to pay, courts turn to other tools, like seek-work orders and income deduction. We'll tell you plainly which case you have before you spend a dollar.

Can I stop the time-sharing schedule if support isn't being paid?

Don't. Answering a violation with a violation creates two enforcement problems where there was one. The reality is that the parent who retaliates hands the other side a motion. Keep following the order, document every missed payment, and enforce. It's slower than revenge and far better for you and the kids.

Does it cost money to file for contempt in Florida?

That depends on your county's Clerk. Contempt and reopen fees are set county by county, and they are usually far less than what the original case cost to open. Your local guide carries your county's exact numbers. Our fee is separate, fixed, and quoted in writing before we file anything, so enforcing what you're owed can never quietly cost more than the debt.

My ex moved away with the kids without permission. What happens now?

A move of 50+ miles for 60+ consecutive days without written agreement or court approval violates Fla. Stat. § 61.13001, and the court can compel the child's return. The statute also makes the unauthorized move count against the relocating parent in later proceedings. In Florida's military communities this happens more than anywhere, and time matters: act before the new school year makes everything harder to unwind.

My ex never signed the property paperwork from our divorce. Is that enforceable?

Yes, two different ways. A money award is collected the way any judgment is collected, through creditor remedies. But when the judgment orders a specific act, like signing a deed, the court can enforce the act itself, and a judgment ordering a conveyance can even transfer the title without the signature. Florida draws the line between money and acts: an unpaid equalizing payment is a debt (Said v. Bell), while an ordered act can be compelled, including by contempt (Roth v. Roth; Williams v. Williams). These cases are won on the judgment's exact words, so bring the final judgment to the call and we'll tell you plainly which route yours supports.

How long does an enforcement case take?

Usually less time than the divorce did: enforcement skips the 45-day disclosure exchange that paces contested cases, and many violations resolve once the motion is served. The pacing driver is the hearing, which is requested and noticed, never automatic. We request dates until we have one, and a served motion with a clean record changes behavior on its own more often than people expect.

What if the order itself is the problem?

Then you may need a modification, not enforcement, and we'll tell you which one honestly. An order that no longer fits reality gets changed; an order that's simply being ignored gets enforced. Half the people who call about one actually need the other, and sorting that out is exactly what the first ten minutes are for.

What clients say

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"Matthew Ausley is a wonderful man. He saved me from literal years of stress and fear that came along with the uncertainty of divorce and fighting to keep my children. He provides wonderful advice legally and personally."
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We don't take every case. Here's why that's good for you.

Enforcement only makes sense when the math and the record support it, and the first conversation is an honest read of both, not a pitch. Sometimes the right answer is the DOR track, a conversation, or a modification, and you'll hear that plainly.

What happens on the call: ten minutes by phone, no charge. What does the order say, what's the violation, what's it worth to fix. If it's worth pursuing, one hour with an attorney, $150 prepaid, and you leave with your total fixed price in writing.

If your situation needs something we don't do, we'll give you a name, not a directory. Someone we know personally. If it is a match, we move fast. Every month of tolerance teaches the other side it's fine.

You already won the order. Now make it real.

By the end of one call you'll know what your order supports, what enforcing it costs, and whether we're the right firm to do it. Real leverage, real numbers, no theatrics. Call Good Life Legal at 850-362-7228, or complete the form on this page and we will call you.

Confidential. No pressure. No obligation. Serving families across North and Central Florida, from Pensacola to Jacksonville to Orlando.