What Can You Do When Your Ex Violates a Divorce Decree?

If your ex is preventing you from seeing your children, the Missouri law provides a remedy that must be decided within 60 days. This is called a Family Access Motion. Every Missouri custody order must inform you of its existence, and most parents have never heard about it.

A Family Access Motion Is Built for Custody and Visitation Violations

Section 452.400 allows a parent who has had custody or visitation denied without good reason to file a motion outlining the specific circumstances of the denial. The process is designed to be quick:

Within five court days of filing, the circuit clerk will issue a summons.
Service will take priority over other civil cases, with few exceptions.
Your ex-partner has ten days from the day of service to respond to the court.
Final resolution must occur within 60 days of service.

If the court finds that your order has been violated without good cause, it will order a remedy. Options include making up for lost parenting time, counseling for the parent who violated the order, a civil fine to be paid by the offending parent, a bond to ensure future compliance, payment for counseling to help rebuild your relationship with your child, and assessment of attorney’s fees and expenses against the offending party.

Contempt Covers the Rest of the Decree

Family access motions address parenting time. Everything else is handled through a verified motion for contempt: unpaid child support or maintenance, a vehicle title that has never been transferred, a house that has not been refinanced, and a retirement account that has never been divided.

You have to show three things: the obligation in the decree is clear, your ex has the ability to comply with it, and the failure is willful. Missouri’s civil contempt is more coercive than punitive, so a judgment normally includes purgatory conditions. If you comply and the sanctions are lifted, refuse long enough and the court’s contempt powers will extend to commitment.

Documentation Decides These Cases

Judges rule based on evidence, not frustration.

A detailed log of every missed, shortened, or refused exchange, recorded the same day it happened.
The full text and email conversations, not a single line taken out of context.
Proof of your presence: a time stamped photograph, a receipt from the gas station near the exchange location, and a witness who was with you.
For proof of support violations, use the payment history from the Family Support Division. These documents carry more weight than your own spreadsheets ever could.

Two Moves That Weaken Your Own Case

Withholding children because support has gone unpaid is a mistake. Support and parenting time are separate obligations in Missouri, and the law directs the court to take into account a party’s violation of the parenting plan when deciding on later enforcement or modification requests. Self-help is evidence against you.

Waiting is the second one. Under Section 516.350, each periodic support or maintenance payment is presumed to be paid ten years after it comes due unless the judgment is revoked or a payment is recorded. Arrears that you never pursued may quietly become uncollectible.

Property Division Is Final. Support and Custody Are Not.

Missouri courts cannot re-divide marital property after a divorce judgment becomes final, even if one party later decides that the split was unfair. Child support, maintenance and custody are separate issues. They can be modified if circumstances change significantly and persistently.

That distinction tells you which filing you actually need. If your ex ignores a term of the decree, you need enforcement. If the term itself no longer fits your family, you need modification. Filing the wrong one will cost you months.

Talk to a Columbia Family Law Attorney About Enforcement

Enforcement works best when it is early, well-documented, and filed under the right statute. When you choose to work with our firm, more than 35 years of experience in the Missouri legal system are brought to bear on your case. Columbia Family Law Group LLC helps parents and ex-spouses throughout the Columbia area to enforce custody, support and property terms which the other side is no longer honoring. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.