Sullivan v. Tardiff
Annotate this CaseLawrence Tardiff and Katherine Sullivan were divorced pursuant to a divorce judgment after the parties reached a settlement agreement. The judgment provided that the primary residence of the parties’ minor child would be with Sullivan and that Tardiff would pay weekly child support. Sullivan later filed a motion for contempt alleging that Tardiff had not complied with the divorce judgment by failing to pay his share of the child’s daycare expenses, the property settlement, and attorney fees. Tardiff subsequently filed a motion to modify the visitation schedule and child support award. The district court modified the child support provisions by increasing Tardiff’s weekly child support payment instead of ordering the reduction he had requested. The court also granted Sullivan’s motion for contempt and imposed remedial sanctions. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the court did not err in modifying Tardiff’s child support payments; and (2) the court did not err by imposing coercive imprisonment as a sanction for Tardiff’s contempt.
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