If your husband refuses to pay alimony, the court that ordered the payments can force him to comply. You go back to that court, show the judge what he owes, and ask for enforcement. A judge can garnish his wages, seize money from his bank accounts, place liens on his property, suspend his driver’s or professional licenses, and jail him for contempt. None of this happens on its own. You have to file, serve him, and prove the nonpayment is willful.
Willful Refusal Is Not the Same as Inability to Pay
Before you file anything, be honest with yourself about which situation you are in. Courts draw a hard line between a husband who won’t pay and one who genuinely can’t, and that line shapes every remedy below.
Contempt is reserved for willful nonpayment. If he has the money and chooses not to send it, enforcement tools come into play. Most states require the paying spouse to have the present ability to comply before a judge imposes contempt sanctions, and in some states inability to pay is an affirmative defense he has to prove. Either way, the judge will look closely at whether nonpayment was a choice.
If he lost a job involuntarily, became seriously ill, or retired at a normal age, a judge is unlikely to hold him in contempt. He may instead have grounds to petition for a modification based on a substantial change in circumstances that was not foreseeable at the time of the divorce. A voluntary income cut, like quitting a well-paying job without a compelling reason, usually will not persuade a judge.
What You Need Before You Walk Into Court
Strong documentation is the foundation of enforcement. Three things matter most.
Get a certified copy of your divorce decree or the specific order establishing alimony from the clerk of the court that handled your divorce. That document is what the judge uses to confirm the amount, schedule, and terms.
Build a detailed payment ledger. Every payment that was due, the date it was supposed to arrive, what you actually received, and the running unpaid balance. Courts call that balance arrears, and the ledger lets a judge see the scope of the problem at a glance.
Save written communications about the missed payments. Emails, texts, and voicemails where he acknowledges owing money, offers excuses, or outright refuses are powerful evidence of willfulness. If you suspect he is hiding income or assets, ask an attorney about post-judgment discovery tools, including interrogatories and subpoenas, that can force disclosure of bank accounts, employer information, and property.
Filing a Motion to Enforce
The formal process starts when you file paperwork, usually called a motion for contempt or a motion to enforce, with the same court that issued your divorce decree. Your husband then has to be formally notified through service of process, which generally means personal delivery by a sheriff’s deputy or professional process server. Mailing the documents is not enough in most situations.1Legal Information Institute. Service of Process
At the hearing, you present your decree, your ledger, and your communications. He gets a chance to explain or defend himself. The judge then decides what enforcement measures to impose.
Pay attention to time limits. They vary significantly by state, from as few as two years for a contempt motion in some jurisdictions to twenty years for enforcing an arrears judgment in others. If payments have been missed for a long time, do not assume you can wait indefinitely. Older missed payments can become harder or impossible to collect once deadlines pass.
Wage Garnishment, Bank Levies, and Liens
Wage garnishment is usually the most effective tool. Through an income withholding order, the court directs his employer to deduct alimony from his paycheck before he sees it, which removes the need to rely on him writing a check.
Federal law caps how much of his disposable earnings can be garnished for support. The ceiling is 50 percent if he is supporting another spouse or child, or 60 percent if he is not. If payments are more than twelve weeks overdue, an additional 5 percent can be garnished on top of those limits.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. U.S. Code Title 15 – Section 1673 Those federal maximums apply to alimony the same way they apply to child support.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
A court can also order a levy on his bank accounts, which freezes and seizes funds to satisfy the debt. And it can place a lien on real estate, vehicles, or other valuable property. A lien does not transfer the property to you, but it prevents him from selling or refinancing until the arrears are paid, and when the property eventually sells, you get paid from the proceeds.
Arrears also accrue interest in most states. Rates vary widely, from as low as 4 percent per year in some states to as high as 12 percent in others, and that interest compounds the longer he waits.
One boundary worth knowing: the federal tax refund intercept program and the passport denial program do not apply to alimony arrears. Both are limited to child support.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. U.S. Code Title 42 – Section 652, Duties of Secretary Wage garnishment, bank levies, and liens are your primary financial tools.
License Suspension and Jail
When money tools are not enough, courts can escalate. Many states authorize suspension of a non-paying spouse’s driver’s license, professional licenses, or recreational licenses. The specifics depend on state law. Some states apply these penalties broadly to all support obligations including alimony; others limit license suspension to child support arrears under the federal mandate.
The most serious consequence is incarceration. A judge who finds him in civil contempt can order him jailed. This is not a criminal conviction. The purpose is to compel compliance, not punish, and he holds the keys to his own release by paying what he owes. Courts describe this as a coercive sanction.
A judge will not jail someone who genuinely cannot pay. The premise of civil contempt is the ability to comply paired with a choice not to. If he can show real financial hardship, jail is off the table, though liens and garnishment may still apply.
Bankruptcy Will Not Erase What He Owes
If he files for bankruptcy hoping to wipe out alimony, it will not work. Federal bankruptcy law classifies alimony as a domestic support obligation, and these debts cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. The protection covers both ongoing payments and accumulated arrears.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. U.S. Code Title 11 Bankruptcy – Section 523, Exceptions to Discharge
Bankruptcy also does not pause your collection. The automatic stay that normally halts creditor action when someone files does not apply to the collection of domestic support obligations, so you can continue garnishing wages, enforcing liens, and pursuing contempt while the bankruptcy case is pending.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. U.S. Code Title 11 – Section 362, Automatic Stay Domestic support obligations are treated as priority debts in bankruptcy, so they must be addressed before most other creditors get paid.
Taxes and Attorney’s Fees When You Collect
For any divorce or separation agreement executed after December 31, 2018, alimony is not taxable income to the person receiving it and not deductible for the person paying it.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance When you collect back payments under one of these agreements, you do not owe federal income tax on the money. If your divorce was finalized before 2019, the older rules may still apply unless the agreement was later modified to adopt the current treatment.
You also may not have to absorb the cost of going back to court. If the judge finds the failure to pay was willful, many states allow the court to order him to cover your attorney’s fees and court costs. Filing fees for a contempt motion are typically under $50, but attorney’s fees for the hearing can climb. The prospect of paying both sides’ legal bills gives a non-paying spouse a strong incentive to settle up before the hearing starts.