Maldonado v. Maldonado

Summary

The court affirmed an order finding the father in willful violation of a child support order and incarcerating him for three months, with an opportunity to purge the contempt by paying $8,000 toward arrears. The court held that the mother’s proof of nonpayment established prima facie willfulness and that the father failed to provide competent, credible evidence of inability to pay.

Holdings

1. In a child-support proceeding, proof that the father failed to pay child support as ordered constituted prima facie evidence of a willful violation of the support order.
2. The father failed to meet his burden to come forward with competent, credible evidence demonstrating an inability to pay the ordered support.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the father's failure to pay child support constituted prima facie evidence of a willful violation of the support order.
2. Whether the father met his burden to establish, with competent and credible evidence, that he was unable to pay the ordered support.
3. Whether the Family Court properly confirmed the willfulness finding and ordered incarceration with a purge condition.

Disposition

affirmed