NSW Contempt of court for non disclosure

[Joe Black]

I have requested more than 3 times for full disclosure from my ex partner via her lawyer.

There is court orders in place stating that full disclosure should occur within 14 days of the request made.
I received a partial disclosure after 21 days and now it is 35 days and I am still trying to get valuations that were originally requested from the other party.

I told her lawyer that if the information is not received then I will ask the court to consider her being held in contempt of court as she is refusing to comply with a court order.

First of all, will this be possible and secondly what could the outcome be for both the lawyer and the party?

 

[Atticus]

Doubt this would amount to contempt unfortunately. Contempt is reserved for those that have shown (probably repeatedly) a flagrant disregard for court orders...

 

[Curiouskitty]

What you are seeking is a contravention application, or alternatively you file an application in a case seeking the orders resume. I've assumed you are in the FCC.

Application - Contravention - Federal Circuit Court of Australia

It is used for an application alleging a breach of a parenting order under Division 13A of Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975, or an order not affecting children, for example a property order under Part XIII of the Family Law Act 1975.

Before filing an Application - Contravention, you should consider the result that you want to achieve. The remedies available from the Court range from the enforcement of an order to the punishment of a person for failure to obey an order. For example, the court may make an order that:

• ensures the resumption of the arrangements set out in an earlier order;
• compensates a person for lost contact time;
• varies an existing order;
• puts a person on notice that if the person does not comply with an order, the person will be punished;
• or punishes a person by way of a fine or imprisonment.

If you don't actually want the other party punished (eg. fined or imprisoned) for the breach but rather want a speedy remedy to ensure the resumption of the arrangements set out in an earlier order, you may be able to file an Application in a Case rather than an Application - Contravention.