Don’t bury your head!

A recent case has highlighted just how important it is to follow court orders within financial proceedings.

A father in proceedings brought by the mother of their two children involving an application for the financial support of the children has been committed for contempt for failure to comply with an order to serve a Form E (financial statement).

The father failed to appear at the committal hearing and he was found guilty of contempt of court by failing to comply with the order and was committed to prison for fourteen days. The order, made on the 3rd October, was suspended until the 14th October to permit the father to serve the Form E in the interim. We don’t know whether he has done so.

The moral of the story? If you’ve been ordered to do something, get legal advice and do it! Burying your head and hoping it will all go away won’t help. Otherwise you could find yourself taking a break at Her Majesty’s pleasure.