What if one party fails to comply with the terms of the order? Well, the other party will then have to take enforcement action. Enforcement is a subject in itself, so all eventualities are not dealt with here (nor are the procedural details), but here are some of the most common possibilities:
• Unpaid maintenance orders – if the paying party is employed, then you can apply for an attachment of earnings order, requiring their employer to deduct the maintenance from their earnings, in much the same way that the Child Support Agency can make a deduction from earnings order, as mentioned in Chapter 3.
• Failure to pay a lump sum – this can be enforced against the payer in the same ways as any civil debt, for example by seeking a garnishee order, requiring their bank to pay the money from their bank account, or by seeking a charging order, attaching the debt to their property and thereafter, if necessary, requiring the property to be sold to pay the debt, or by seeking a warrant of execution, whereby their goods are seized and sold to pay the debt.
• Failure to comply with a transfer of property order – here, you can apply to the court for an order that the district judge sign any documents required to give effect to the transfer, for example a document transferring one party’s interest in the former matrimonial home to the other party.