{"id":267,"date":"2016-03-18T22:05:27","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T17:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rushtonlawnashville.com\/?p=267"},"modified":"2026-08-02T08:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T03:09:22","slug":"petition-for-civil-contempt-of-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushtonlawnashville.com\/?p=267","title":{"rendered":"Petition for Civil Contempt of Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know it is coming, or at least you should. You were involved in a lawsuit but thankfully, you reached a signed settlement agreement that dictated what each party would do to resolve the litigation permanently. But\u2026. time passed and you didn\u2019t do some or any of the things you agreed to do. Why? That\u2019s not the point now. What matters is you have been served with a Petition for Civil Contempt of Court and it is time to deal with the repercussions of your delay.\u00a0\"civil<\/span><\/p>\n

What do you do now? Do what you agreed to do in the settlement agreement \u2013 and do it quickly! Sheer refusal or lame excuses will not go well with the court. Assuming you knew you had a duty to perform (you did sign<\/em> the agreement) and you have the current ability to perform the task, your refusal or failure to perform under the settlement agreement can carry civil or criminal penalties<\/em>. Yes. Jail. Not only could you get a dressing down by the Judge and be responsible for the other side’s attorney fees, you could<\/em> also get a few days behind bars to think it over and \u201cpurge yourself of contempt\u201d. In other words, you may not get out of jail until you do what you agreed to do in the settlement agreement. In fact, while in Court on a different matter, we saw a former spouse who failed to pay alimony under a Marital Dissolution Agreement (the settlement agreement) be ordered to jail until he paid a substantial portion of the overdue alimony. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you have legitimate reasons for failing to perform \u2013 you can\u2019t sell the house because it was destroyed by a tornado or you can\u2019t deliver 10,000 widgets as agreed because a widget blight destroyed the entire international widget crop \u2013 then you and your counsel have some room to work with to rehabilitate your position.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, either way, it is time to act. \u00a0Doing so will save you time, expense and anxiety over the case. \u00a0Do what you need to do, get it behind you and move on with life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Peace of mind is priceless.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know it is coming, or at least you should. You were involved in a lawsuit but thankfully, you reached a signed settlement agreement that dictated what each party would do to resolve the litigation permanently. But\u2026. time passed and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[101,94,92,103,102,110,104,11,105,106,107,84,39,108,109],"class_list":["post-267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-litigation","tag-civil-contempt-of-court","tag-contempt-of-court","tag-court-order","tag-court-order-nashville","tag-criminal-contempt-of-court","tag-defense-attorney","tag-defense-of-contempt-attorney","tag-divorce-attorney","tag-following-court-order","tag-judges-rules","tag-local-rules-of-court-davidson-county","tag-nashville-attorney","tag-nashville-lawyer","tag-tennessee-court-order","tag-violation-of-tennessee-court-order"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t