How to hold someone in contempt of a court order?

[islandholiday]

Hi there,

I believe I have substantial evidence to hold my ex in contempt of court for willfully disobeying a court order.

I was just wondering what the process was to hold someone in contempt of court?

Would I go straight to the court who issued the order? Or would I go via my solicitor first?

Thanks!

What kind of order is it? Does it have a penal notice attached already?

You may be needing to seek to enforce the order rather than commit him for contempt, depending on what it is.

I'd be very interested to hear the answer. We're buying a house from a divorced couple and one of them is refusing to sign the contract of sale. We've been told this is in breach of a court order and the case has been made to the court for a hearing ASAP. I hear the costs involved are very high and the penalties for breaching an order quite high.

The notion of “contempt” is probably misplaced (unless it’s an injunction-type order).

You’d need to answer NotMyPuppy’s questions to get a meaningful response.

Yes it's a court order to sell our house.

It doesn't have a penal notice attached.

So does it sound like the first step is to appeal to the court to enforce the order, before holding the other person in contempt of court?

Thanks

Not particularly my area but you might want to apply to ask the court to sign on his behalf so the sale goes through rather than take steps to force him to do it

Thanks @NotMyPuppy that sounds a good idea too.

I'm worried that whatever I asked from the court would take a long time and he'd have ample chance to come back and give 'his side of the story'