Enforcing A Judgment In An Illinois Divorce

After an Illinois divorce is settled or a trial order is issued, the divorce is not over. Both parties must still comply with the terms of the Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage and the incorporated Marital Settlement Agreement and Allocation of Parenting Time and Parental Responsibilities. Illinois law provides multiple methods for enforcing those terms. All of these contracted agreements become incorporated into the judgment once the Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage is entered. At that time, the agreements are enforceable as judgments. “Under section 502(e) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Act), settlement agreements are enforceable as terms of a judgment and by incorporation into a judgment they become part of the trial court’s order. By such incorporation, the agreement’s subservient nature as a contract gives way to the dominant character of the adjudication. Thus, the terms of the marital settlement agreement are enforceable as terms of the judgment.” In re Marriage of Sloane, 255 Ill. App. 3d 653, 656 (Ill. App. Ct. 1993) “Terms of the agreement set forth in the judgment are enforceable by all remedies available for enforcement of a judgment, including contempt, and are enforceable as contract terms.” 750 ILCS 5/504(e) Orders get enforced in the same court the order was issued. “Any judgment entered within this State may be enforced…in the judicial circuit wherein such judgment was entered” 750 ILCS 5/511(a) If someone has moved, the order will be enforced in the new, appropriate county or state. “If neither party continues to reside in the county wherein such judgment was entered or last modified, the court on the motion of either party or on its own motion may transfer a post-judgment proceeding…to another county or judicial circuit, as appropriate, where either party resides.”750 ILCS 5/511(a) But, filing a motion for enforcement is kind of silly because they are already not following the order. What are you going to do? Get another order which they will, in turn, also not follow? You need something extra. You need the power of contempt. Enforcing a Judgment Via Contempt To violate a court order is to insult the decency and power of the court which issued that order. Therefore, that court may hold the violator in contempt for said violation. Contempt can either be criminal or civil. Violation of a judgment for dissolution of marriage and its incorporated orders is invariably an issue of civil contempt. […]

from Russell D. Knight | Family Lawyer Chicago https://rdklegal.com/enforcing-a-judgment-in-an-illinois-divorce/