What is a Contempt Proceeding? 
The Contempt proceeding is used to enforce an order or judgment of the court that is not being followed by one of the parties. If the other party is in violation of a court order or judgment, you can request that the party be brought into court and answer your allegations of contempt. A contempt proceeding is not to be taken lightly. It is a quasi-criminal proceeding with a formal hearing, the taking of evidence and examination of witnesses. The accused may also have the right to be appointed an attorney by the court.
How to Initiate a Contempt Proceeding
In family law cases, the contempt proceeding must be initiated by filing and serving Judicial Council Form FL-410 (Order to Show Cause and Affidavit for Contempt), along with an Affidavit of Facts Constituting Contempt (Form FL-411 or FL-412).
All of these forms are mandatory to use in family law cases when filing a contempt proceeding, and can be found online on the California Courts website at: https://www.courts.ca.gov/forms.htm, in the category Family Law: Enforcement.
Pages 3 and 4 of Form FL-410 include detailed instructions on how to use and fill out the form. The San Joaquin County Superior Court has also published a set of instructions for filling out the FL-410 form here.
Form FL-410 must be accompanied by an Affidavit of Facts describing the order/judgment that was violated, the date the order/judgment was issued, how the order was violated, and when the violation occurred. The Affidavit must show that the order/judgment was a valid court order, that the person in violation knew about the order, and that the person willfully disobeyed the order.
Affidavit of Facts
Judicial Council Form FL-411 is used to allege a violation of financial orders (child support, spousal support, attorneys fees and costs), and Form FL-412 is used to allege a violation of domestic violence restraining orders, and custody/visitation orders.
If you are enforcing a court order compelling discovery, neither FL-411 or FL-412 is applicable. To enforce discovery orders, you can use items 8(c) and 8(d) of Form FL-410 to state the Affidavit of Facts to support your case. If you need more room to describe the order or material facts, you can use Judicial Council Form MC-025 as an attachment. It can be found online at https://www.courts.ca.gov/forms.htm, under the category Miscellaneous.
If there are violations of multiple orders, fill out all forms that are necessary to allege contempt. For example, if the other party is in violation of a support order and a visitation order, you will need to fill out both FL-411 and FL-412.
Filing and Service
Once you have filled out the Order to Show Cause and Affidavits for Contempt and the Affidavit of Facts, you need to file them with the court. The court clerk will fill in the date, time, and place for the hearing.
The other party must be served with the paperwork by personal service, at least 16 court days before the hearing (CCP §1005(b)). Unlike most paperwork, service for Contempt must be made directly on the other party, not on their attorney (CCP §1015, CCP §1016, and FC §215). Proof of Personal Service FL-330 form can be used. The person performing the service must sign a proof of service form stating what they served, who it was served on, and the date of the service. The original Proof of Service should then be filed with the Court, retain a copy for your records. For more information about service of process, see our guide entitled "Service of Notice and Other Papers."
It is important that a party who is accused of Contempt responds to the Order to Show Cause, or moves for a Discharge of the Contempt. If no response is received by the court, all allegations of violations could be deemed admitted, and taken to be true. Penalties for Contempt could include monetary fines, community service, and/or imprisonment.
Some resources available at SDLL that are helpful for responding to an Order to Show Cause for Contempt include:
*Due to the criminal implications of contempt proceedings, you should consult an attorney as soon as possible.