Bowen v. Bowen

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that the trial court may not incarcerate a civil contemnor without an affirmative finding that he has the ability to pay the purge amount
• explaining “correct procedure for establishing civil contempt in family support matters”
• the court may look to all assets from which arrearage could be obtained to determine present ability to pay
• “Without the present ability to pay from some available asset, the contemnor holds no key to the jailhouse door”
• “Civil contempt consists of failing to do something ordered to be done by a court or judge for the benefit of the opposing party.”
• “Because incarceration is utilized solely to obtain compliance, it must be used only when the contemnor has the ability to comply.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).