Brown v. King

Fletcher, Presiding Justice.

Jillian Ellis Brown filed a motion for contempt against her former husband, James P. King, Jr., seeking to enforce court-ordered child support payments. The trial court granted the husband’s motion to dismiss, ruling that a contempt action to enforce a divorce decree must be filed as a new civil action requiring 30 days notice of a hearing. We granted the wife’s discretionary application to consider the trial court’s ruling. Adhering to our previous decisions, we hold that the contempt action is an independent proceeding ancillary to the divorce case and requires…