No. If your former spouse files a contempt motion against you, Georgia does not let you counterclaim in response to it.
Why Not
A contempt filing is not a new lawsuit. It is a motion in the case that already produced the order, asking the judge to enforce what was decided. As the Georgia Supreme Court put it in Baer v. Baer, 263 Ga. 574 (1993), “a counterclaim cannot be filed in response to an application for contempt,” because “the filing of a contempt action is not tantamount to filing a complaint.”
Baer was a wife’s contempt action for $17,400 in unpaid alimony and child support. The husband counterclaimed for money he said she owed him from a joint tax return and from expenses on the house. It was error to consider that counterclaim at all.
The Consequences Run Further Than the Counterclaim
In Mullins-Leholm v. Evans, 322 Ga. App. 869 (2013), a mother filed for contempt over visitation and the father counterclaimed that she was the one in contempt. The trial court ruled for him and ordered her to pay $7,500 in fees “resulting from [the father] being forced to file his Counterclaim for Contempt.” The Court of Appeals reversed the contempt finding and the fee award both, since neither was authorized once the counterclaim was improper.
Object, or You Waive It
This protection is not automatic. In Bowerman v. Bowerman, 314 Ga. App. 487 (2012), a father filed a contempt petition and the mother answered with a counterclaim for contempt of her own. The Court of Appeals noted that the counterclaim was improper, but that because the father voiced no objection to it, the point “was thereby waived.”
If your own complaints deserve a hearing, file them as a separate action.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!