The moving party (former wife) brought a motion for contempt against the responding party (former husband) for failing to secure his equalization and spousal support obligations via life insurance and his pension, as ordered in 1998 and 2000.
The responding party argued the equalization obligation was extinguished by his 2000 assignment in bankruptcy.
The court found that because the responding party failed to comply with his conditional discharge order and the trustee was discharged in 2005, the bankruptcy stay was lifted and the equalization obligation remained enforceable.
Applying the three-part test for civil contempt, the court found the responding party intentionally breached clear and unequivocal court orders and declared him in contempt, ordering him to secure the obligations within 30 days to purge the contempt prior to a sentencing hearing.
