Decker v. Decker – Divorce – Contempt for Failure to Pay Support
Decker v. Decker, 52 Wash. 2d 456, 326 P.2d 332 (1958).
NATURE OF THE CASE: This case involved a contempt decree to compel payment of community debts as per the divorce decree.
FACTS: H was ordered by divorce decree to pay community debts incurred prior to the divorce as part of an oral property settlement agreement between the parties. W instituted a contempt proceeding against H for failure to pay those debts. The trial judge held that the court could not use its contempt powers to enforce settlement agreements and W appealed.
ISSUE: Is a trial court barred from using its contempt powers and imprisonment to enforce compliance with a divorce dissolution decree?
RULE OF LAW: No. A trial court is not barred from using contempt powers and imprisonment to enforce compliance with a divorce dissolution decree.
HOLDING AND DECISION: Problems of domestic relations involving alimony, support and maintenance, and property settlements, together with related court orders, do not normally fall into the debtor creditor category. Arrearages in alimony and support payments do not constitute a debt within the meaning of the constitutional prohibition. However, our decisions are in conflict in cases where such provisions were not clearly spelled out or were not characterized as alimony or support.
There is an inherent similarity between alimony and property settlements as fundamentally the trial court has a duty to protect the interests of the public in such matters as well as the welfare of the parties. It is clear then that the parties to a divorce action cannot foreclose the public interest in the sum total of their marital responsibilities by a contract or an agreement of settlement. Marital problems involve something more fundamental than nomenclature and technical contract rights. As such contempt proceedings are a proper remedy to enforce a court’s order with respect to property settlements. To defend against imprisonment, H must show he does not have the means to comply with the order or that this particular provision has no reasonable relationship to his duty to support his wife and children.
DISPOSITION: Reversed and remanded.