Child Support Enforcement - Sarpy County Nebraska

In Nebraska, a judgment is the final determination of the rights of the parties in an
action. Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-1301(1) (Cum. Supp. 2004). However, if a judgment
looks to the future in an attempt to judge the unknown, it is a conditional judgment. A
conditional judgment is wholly void because it does not ―perform in praesenti‖ and
leaves to speculation and conjecture what its final effect may be.
Vogel v. Vogel, 262 Neb. 1030, 637 N.W.2d 611 (2002)
Facts: Court ordered differing visitation schedules, depending upon whether the father was
transferred overseas, or if the parents moved close to one another. Mother appealed.
Held: such alternative visitation schedules constitute conditional orders.
If a judgment looks to the future in an attempt to judge the unknown, it is a
conditional judgment. A conditional judgment is wholly void because it does not
―perform in praesenti‖ and leaves to speculation and conjecture what its final effect
may be. Such orders become effective only upon the happening of certain future
events which may or may not occur. Whether such orders will ever become effective
is speculative.
Constitutional Issues/ Statutory Interpretation
(See also Criminal Non-Support)
Allen v. Sheriff of Lancaster Cty., 245 Neb. 149, 511 N.W.2d 125 (1994).
An indigent litigant had a right to appointed counsel in a contempt action for failure to
pay a debt assigned to him in a dissolution decree, where he was jailed for
contempt.
But see:
Turner v. Rogers et al., U.S. Supreme Court (June 2011) (See also p. 51 of this
outline)
Note: South Carolina has a very different system from Nebraska for initiating civil contempt
actions. Actions in S. Carolina are initiated by the clerks of the various courts, and not by a IV-D
child support enforcement office.
The Sixth Amendment does not govern civil cases.
Where civil contempt is at issue, the Fourteenth Amendment ‘s Due Process
Clause allows a State to provide fewer procedural protections than in a criminal
case. In particular, that Clause does not require that counsel be provided where
the opposing parent or other custodian is not represented by counsel and the State
provides alternative procedural safeguards equivalent to adequate notice of the
importance of the ability to pay, a fair opportunity to present, and to dispute,
relevant information, and express court findings as to the supporting parent‘s ability
to comply with the support order.
- 32 -