Enforcement of Court Orders

Enforcement is the process of making a person obey a court order they are ignoring.

The main methods are:

• Committal proceedings: asking the court to punish the person for contempt of court.
• Garnishee order: money owed to the person, such as a bank balance, is paid to you instead.
• Seizure and sale: the person’s property is seized and sold to cover what is owed.
• Attachment of earnings: payments are taken from the person’s salary.

Why it matters: a maintenance or property order only helps if it is followed. If payments stop, these are the tools that can recover them.