A motion to show cause in Florida asks a judge to order someone to appear in court and explain why they have not followed an existing court order. If the person cannot give a legally sufficient reason, the judge can hold them in contempt and impose penalties that range from paying the overdue amount to wage garnishment, license suspension, or jail. The motion is most common in family law disputes over unpaid child support or alimony, but it works in any civil case where a party has ignored a court-ordered obligation.
When This Motion Is Used
The classic scenario is a parent who stops paying court-ordered child support. Florida circuit courts have broad authority to order either parent to pay support under the state’s guidelines.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.13 – Support of Children, Parenting and Time-Sharing, Powers of Court When those payments stop, the receiving parent can file a motion to show cause asking the court to hold the non-paying parent in contempt. The same route applies to unpaid alimony, failure to transfer property required by a divorce judgment, or refusal to follow a court-approved parenting plan.
Outside family law, the motion appears when a party ignores a court order to produce financial records, comply with a settlement, or take some other required action. Any valid court order can be enforced this way. What matters is that a prior order already directs someone to do something specific and they have not done it.
What sets this motion apart from an ordinary enforcement motion is the procedural shift. Instead of asking the court to reaffirm its ruling, the filer asks the court to compel the other side to justify their non-compliance under threat of contempt.
Civil Contempt vs. Criminal Contempt
This distinction changes the procedure, the burden of proof, and the penalties available. Getting it wrong can invalidate a contempt order entirely.
Civil contempt exists to force compliance. The court’s goal is to get the person to do what they were ordered to do, which in support cases usually means paying the overdue amount. A defining feature is that the person found in contempt must have a way to end the sanction by complying. Courts call this the “key to the jail cell.” Florida Family Law Rule 12.615 governs civil contempt in support matters.2The Florida Bar. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure – Rule 12.615
Criminal contempt exists to punish. It applies when someone’s defiance is deliberate enough that the court needs to vindicate its authority. Criminal contempt carries stronger protections for the accused, including the right to counsel, the right to testify, and the right to compulsory process for witnesses. A respondent’s failure to file a response cannot be treated as an admission of guilt.3Westlaw. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.840 – Indirect Criminal Contempt
Here is why it matters in practice. If a court imposes jail time for contempt without giving the person a way to purge by complying, the order is criminal in nature regardless of what the judge calls it. The Florida Supreme Court applied that principle in Pugliese v. Pugliese, reversing a contempt order that jailed a party without any mechanism to purge the sentence by complying.4Justia. Pugliese v. Pugliese Judges will reject contempt orders that blur that line.
What the Motion Must Include
The motion needs to identify the original court order with specificity: the case number, the date the order was entered, and the exact provisions being violated. Vague references to “the divorce decree” or “the settlement” will not work. The motion must state what the order required and how the other party has failed to comply.
For civil contempt in support cases, Rule 12.615 requires the motion to recite the essential facts constituting the alleged contempt.2The Florida Bar. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure – Rule 12.615 In practice, that means attaching payment records, bank statements, or other documentation of the missed obligations. The stronger the paper trail, the more likely the judge signs the order to show cause.
For indirect criminal contempt, the order to show cause must state the essential facts constituting the charged contempt and give the respondent reasonable time to prepare a defense after being served. A judge can initiate criminal contempt on their own motion or based on an affidavit from someone with knowledge of the facts.3Westlaw. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.840 – Indirect Criminal Contempt
Include a proposed order to show cause for the judge to sign. This proposed order sets the hearing date and directs the respondent to appear. Without it, you add a step and slow the process down.
Filing, Fees, and Service
File in the same court that issued the original order. That court retains jurisdiction over enforcement. Florida requires electronic filing through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal for nearly all court documents, with limited in-person exceptions.
On fees, be careful with figures quoted elsewhere. Florida law specifically exempts motions for contempt from the standard reopening fee that applies to other post-judgment filings, and it prohibits any filing fee for a response to such a motion.5Florida Senate. Florida Code 28.241 – Filing Fees for Trial and Appellate Proceedings You may still incur small e-filing portal transaction fees, but the court itself should not charge for the contempt motion.
Once the judge signs the order to show cause, it has to be served on the other party. For civil contempt in support matters, service can follow the same rules used for other filings between parties who are already in the case, as long as the notice is reasonably calculated to reach the respondent.2The Florida Bar. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure – Rule 12.615 If the respondent has an attorney, service through the attorney typically suffices. If they do not, or if the matter involves criminal contempt, personal service through the sheriff’s office or a private process server may be required.
The notice of hearing in a support-related civil contempt case must include specific warning language: that failure to appear may result in a writ of bodily attachment and arrest, and that the person may be held in jail for up to 48 hours before a hearing.2The Florida Bar. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure – Rule 12.615 That language is not optional. Omitting it can undermine the entire proceeding.
What Happens at the Hearing
The judge first confirms that the respondent was properly served. If service was defective, the hearing usually gets continued rather than decided.
In a civil contempt hearing for support, the court follows a two-step analysis. First, the filer must establish that a prior support order existed and that the other party failed to pay all or part of what was owed. If that is shown, the court then determines whether the respondent had the present ability to pay and willfully refused.2The Florida Bar. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure – Rule 12.615 The second step is where most contested hearings are won or lost. A parent who was laid off and genuinely cannot pay is not willfully refusing. A parent who bought a new car while skipping support payments probably is.
The standard of proof in civil contempt is preponderance of the evidence. For criminal contempt, the higher criminal standard applies along with broader procedural protections.
The respondent can present counter-evidence: proof of payments actually made, medical records showing inability to work, documentation of job loss, or evidence that the filer’s claims are exaggerated. The judge may question both sides directly, and witnesses can testify. Bring organized documentation rather than relying on oral testimony alone.
When the Respondent Does Not Show Up
If the respondent fails to appear after proper notice, the court does not simply enter a default the way it might in other civil cases. Instead, the judge sets a reasonable purge amount based on the circumstances and may issue a writ of bodily attachment, which functions as an arrest warrant.2The Florida Bar. Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure – Rule 12.615 Once arrested, the person must be brought before the court within 48 hours for a hearing on whether they have the present ability to comply.
The 48-Hour Bowen Hearing
When someone is arrested on a writ of bodily attachment for civil contempt in a support case, the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Bowen v. Bowen requires a hearing within 48 hours. At that hearing, the court determines whether the person actually has the ability to pay the purge amount. If they can pay and choose not to, they stay in custody. If they genuinely cannot pay, continued incarceration serves no coercive purpose and the court must address the situation.6Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida. Procedures for Bowen and Subsequent Review Hearings
Purge Conditions
Every civil contempt order that includes incarceration must give the person a clear, achievable way to get out of jail by complying with the court’s order. If a judge sentences someone to 30 days for failing to pay child support but does not specify what the person must do to secure release, that order is legally defective. It looks like punishment rather than coercion, which makes it criminal contempt in civil clothing.
A proper purge provision might require payment of a specific dollar amount, transfer of a particular asset, or completion of a defined action. The amount or action must be something the contemnor actually has the ability to perform. Ordering someone to pay $50,000 to purge their contempt when they have $200 in the bank is not a real purge condition, and appellate courts will reverse it.
If you are the filer, make sure the proposed order includes a specific, realistic purge provision. If you are the respondent, check whether the contempt order gives you a way out. An order without one is vulnerable to challenge on appeal or through a habeas corpus petition.
Penalties and Enforcement Tools
Florida courts have broad authority to enforce their orders, and the available tools go well beyond jail time.
Financial Remedies
The court can order immediate payment of all overdue amounts. In support cases, the court may modify or enforce the original obligation and address arrearages retroactively to the date the enforcement action was filed.7Florida Senate. Florida Code 61.14 – Enforcement and Modification of Support, Maintenance, or Alimony Agreements or Orders Wage garnishment is common: the court can order the employer to withhold support directly from the obligor’s paycheck. Liens on real property or bank accounts are also available.
License Suspension
Florida law allows suspension of a delinquent parent’s driver’s license and motor vehicle registration. The process can begin when support payments are just 15 days overdue. The obligor receives a notice and has 20 days to pay, enter a written payment agreement, or file a motion to contest before the suspension moves forward through the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.8Online Sunshine. Florida Code 61.13016 – Suspension of Driver Licenses and Motor Vehicle Registrations Losing the ability to drive legally often motivates compliance faster than any other remedy.
Incarceration
Jail is the enforcement tool of last resort, but courts do use it. For civil contempt, any jail time must include a purge provision. For criminal contempt, sentences exceeding six months would trigger the constitutional right to a jury trial, and as a practical matter sentences in Florida stay under that threshold. The judge must pronounce the sentence in open court and give the person an opportunity to present mitigating circumstances beforehand.3Westlaw. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.840 – Indirect Criminal Contempt
If the Other Party Files for Bankruptcy
The federal automatic stay normally halts most collection activity, but domestic support obligations get special treatment. The Bankruptcy Code allows the establishment or modification of support orders, collection of support from property that is not part of the bankruptcy estate, income withholding, and driver’s license suspension for overdue support.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay The exceptions do not cover every scenario, though. If the contempt motion seeks to collect support from property that is part of the bankruptcy estate, rather than from ongoing income or non-estate assets, the automatic stay may still block enforcement. Filing a contempt motion that violates the stay can expose the filer to sanctions, including attorney fees. When bankruptcy overlaps with a support enforcement action, consult an attorney before proceeding.
Filing Without a Lawyer
Many people file or respond to motions to show cause without a lawyer, especially in family law. The Florida State Courts Self-Help page provides free family law forms covering divorce, child support, alimony, and related matters. The courts also offer DIY Florida, an online tool that walks users through creating court documents for certain case types.10Florida State Courts. Self-Help Information Legal aid programs throughout the state offer free assistance to people who qualify based on income.
Handling a straightforward case on your own is manageable. Contempt proceedings carry real stakes, though. If jail time is a realistic possibility, or if the other side has an attorney, the imbalance can be significant. In criminal contempt proceedings specifically, the respondent has the right to counsel.3Westlaw. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.840 – Indirect Criminal Contempt Whether that right extends to appointed counsel for indigent respondents in civil contempt cases remains a more complicated question in Florida, and the stakes of getting it wrong fall entirely on the person facing jail.