We have a contempt winner folks! David Kay and Carrie Kay had two daughters and got divorced. As sometimes happens, they didn’t agree on everything after the divorce.

The question of fact in contempt matters

Whether a party is in contempt is a question of fact to be decided on a case-by-case basis. A chancellor has substantial discretion in deciding contempt matters because of their temporal and visual proximity to the litigants. This case got appealed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals so this is where this opinion is taken.

The primary purpose of a civil-contempt order

The primary purpose of a civil-contempt order is to enforce compliance with a court order. Failure to comply with a court order is prima facie evidence of contempt. To rebut a prima facie case of contempt, a defendant must show an inability to pay, that the default was not willful, that the provision violated was ambiguous, or that performance was impossible. An adjudication of civil contempt must be proved by clear and convincing evidence.

In the case at hand, David acknowledged that he had encouraged Carrie to accept the five-year position in Italy but that he had only taken the children to visit her one time during the two-year period she lived there. David also failed to refute Carrie’s testimony that in 2018 she did not receive her entire amount of summer visitation because David had enrolled the children in summer camps without consulting her or that in 2020 she did not receive any visitation with the parties’ older daughter. In addition, David failed to refute Carrie’s evidence that he routinely failed to respond to her communication attempts or to keep her informed of pertinent educational and medical issues involving the children.

After reviewing the record, the court found no error in the chancellor’s decision to hold David in contempt. Substantial credible evidence supported the chancellor’s finding that David had violated the provisions of the parenting plan incorporated into the parties’ divorce judgment. And so, the court concludes that this assignment of error lacks merit.

What’s all this mean? Just follow the Judge’s Order. It’s in writing and usually is not written in a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo so just follow it.