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Learn Center · Orders are the beginning, not the end

Enforcement & Modification

Incomes change, children grow, payments stop. Modification changes the order going forward on substantial change; enforcement makes the existing order real — through withholding, contempt, and license consequences.

Modification of a final judgment proceeds by supplemental petition, not motion (Rule 12.110), and requires a substantial, material, unanticipated change.

Support enforcement runs on records: due dates, amounts, arrears math. Civil contempt requires present ability to pay and produces purge conditions — punitive contempt is criminal territory (Rule 12.615).

Time-sharing and support are independent obligations: withholding one over the other is both unenforceable and credibility-destroying.

Frequently asked — Florida answers

My ex refuses to pay support — what are my options?

Document every missed payment, then the toolkit runs from income withholding (§ 61.1301) through the depository system, license suspension petitions (§ 61.13015), and civil contempt (Rule 12.615). Organized records decide these.

Can I lower support after losing my job?

Involuntary income loss is classic substantial-change territory — but the change must be filed for; arrears generally keep accruing until a supplemental petition is served. Move fast and honestly.

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