Are There Sentencing Guidelines in Family Court?

Posted on September 29, 2008 by J. Benjamin Stevens

Question:  Does the Family Court have any sentence guidelines or limits on how long a person can be sent to jail for failure to pay child support?  I have heard that six months was the maximum sentence.

Answer:  There are no "sentencing guidelines" in Family Court, and the punishments imposed for contempt issues can vary from Judge to Judge and case to case.  However, the maximum sentence that can be imposed for a willful violation of a Court Order is (a) one year in jail, (b) $1,500 fine, (c) 300 hours of community service, or (d) any combination of the above.

Tags: ,
Trackbacks (0) Links to blogs that reference this article Trackback URL
http://www.scfamilylaw.com/admin/trackback/88295
Comments (2) Read through and enter the discussion with the form at the end
Shane lewis - December 10, 2008 2:48 PM

I here that there is a new law comeing in jan.2009 that the max to serve in jail for contemped for child sapport is 30 days is that true? Shane

julie - March 6, 2009 7:19 PM

what is the punishment for contempt of court in a child custody case?

Post A Comment / Question Use this form to add a comment to this entry.







Remember personal info?
Send To A Friend Use this form to send this entry to a friend via email.