Maintenance - Failure to Pay
The noncompliance with an order to pay maintenance constitutes prima facie evidence of contempt of court, and once the prima facie showing is made, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant to show by definite and explicit evidence that he is unable to pay. In re Dall
A defense to contempt, applicable only in the most extreme cases, exists where the failure of a person to obey an order to pay maintenance is due to poverty, insolvency, or other misfortune, unless that inability to pay is the result of a wrongful or illegal act, or where a defendant can show that he neither has money now with which he can pay nor has disposed wrongfully of money or assets with which he might have paid. In re Dall
If it is established that a party has failed to comply with a divorce decree in paying maintenance, prima facie evidence of contempt is established and the burden shifts to the alleged contemnor to show the conduct was not willful. Taapken v. Taapken
If the husband establishes that he is unable to pay the maintenance, he should not be found guilty of contempt. Taapken v. Taapken
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