Cheyenne · Laramie County · Wyoming · (307) 333-7539
The order says you get the kids every other weekend. For the third time this month, nobody answered the door. Or you have been served with papers saying you violated the order, and you have a hearing date.
An order to show cause is the court telling a party to come explain why they should not be held in contempt. It is a civil proceeding that can end in jail. People treat it like a scheduling conference. It is a trial, and the side with the better record usually wins it.
Deep Waters Law brings and defends orders to show cause in Wyoming’s district courts: custody and visitation, child support, property division and other decree terms, and violations of court orders generally.
How enforcement works
Enforcing a custody or support order does not start a new lawsuit. It starts with a motion in the existing case, asking the judge who entered the order to enforce it. If the motion shows a violation, the judge issues an order requiring the other party to appear and “show cause” why they should not be held in contempt. At the hearing, the moving party proves the violation and the responding party answers it.
In custody cases the authority is explicit. Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-204(b) lets the court require a parent to appear and show cause on a showing that the parent willfully violated an order about the care, custody, and visitation of the children, and to find contempt, award attorney’s fees and costs, and grant other relief. Beyond family law, district courts have inherent power to enforce their own orders.
What has to be proven
Civil contempt requires clear and convincing evidence of three things: an effective court order requiring certain conduct; that the person knew of it; and that they willfully disobeyed it. Once those are shown, the burden shifts to the accused party to prove they were unable to comply.
Two words decide most cases. Willfully: inability to comply is a defense; refusal is not. Effective order: the order must be clear, specific, and unambiguous. In Evans v. Sharpe (2023), the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed a contempt finding because the decree gave the mother discretion in terms too vague to enforce. An order that does not say exactly what a party must do cannot be the basis for contempt. That principle wins cases for respondents and loses them for movants who drafted their own decree.
What the court can do
Courts in Wyoming have ordered make-up and expanded parenting time, required the violating parent to pay travel costs, required a bond against future interference, and awarded attorney’s fees and guardian ad litem fees. Jail is available as a coercive sanction, with release conditioned on compliance. In support cases the court can enter judgment for the arrears; in property cases, judgment for the unpaid amount and an order transferring the asset.
One remedy is not available: changing custody. Enforcement and modification are separate proceedings with separate standards. A court hearing a show cause motion cannot modify custody unless a petition to modify is also before it. But repeated, unreasonable denial of visitation is evidence of a material change in a later modification case, and a contempt record is often the foundation of one.
If you are bringing the motion
Bring the order, not a summary of it. Bring a log: dates, times, what was ordered, what happened, and what you did to make it happen. Bring the texts and emails, complete and in order, and the receipts for the costs the violation caused. The court will decide willfulness largely on whether your account is specific and documented and the other side’s is general. A motion built on “he always” and “she never” is built to lose. If the order was not clear enough to enforce, the better remedy may be a motion to clarify or modify.
If you have been served
Appear. A respondent who does not appear can be found in contempt on the other side’s evidence alone, and a bench warrant can follow. Read the order with a lawyer before the hearing: whether it actually required what the other side says it did is the first question, and often the last. Gather the evidence of why compliance was impossible, if it was. Understand that testifying under oath about your finances, your household, and your children creates a record that will follow you into every future proceeding. And fixing the violation the night before the hearing does not end the matter; the court can still find past contempt and award fees.
Support enforcement
Child support arrears are enforced through show cause proceedings and through the state’s administrative remedies: income withholding, license suspension, tax refund intercepts, and liens. For the paying parent, inability to pay is a defense to contempt but not to the debt; the arrears accrue interest and do not go away. For the receiving parent, a judgment for arrears is collectible for years, and fees are commonly awarded.
Why this firm
Francis H. McVay is a trial and appellate lawyer. He has prosecuted cases, defended them, and argued before the Wyoming Supreme Court. A show cause hearing is decided on the exact words of an order and the exact proof of a violation, and every file here is built for the last judge who will read the record.
Frequently asked questions
What is an order to show cause in a custody case?
A court order requiring a parent to appear and explain why they should not be held in contempt for willfully violating a custody or visitation order. The moving parent must prove the violation by clear and convincing evidence.
Who issues it?
The district judge who entered the underlying order, on a verified motion filed in the existing case. If the motion shows a violation, the judge signs the order. The clerk does not issue it, and the other party has no say in whether it issues, only in the hearing that follows.
What happens if I am found in contempt?
The court may award fees and costs, order make-up time or other compliance measures, enter judgment for amounts owed, require a bond, and in serious or repeated cases order jail until you comply. The finding also becomes evidence in any future modification case.
Can the judge change custody at a show cause hearing?
No. Custody can be changed only on a petition to modify showing a material change in circumstances.
What if I could not comply?
Inability to comply is a defense. Once the violation is proven, the burden shifts to you to prove it. Documentation matters.
What if the order was unclear?
Then it may not be enforceable by contempt at all. A vague provision is a defense, and a reason to seek clarification going forward.
Can I get my attorney’s fees?
Section 20-2-204(b) expressly allows the court to award fees and costs for a willful violation, and courts regularly do.
Talk to a lawyer today
Whether you are enforcing an order or answering one, bring the order and your log to the first call.
Call (307) 333-7539. Answered 24/7, including weekends. Or request a free consultation.
Related
The law is not settled until it is just.
This page describes Wyoming law in general terms as of September 2026 and is not legal advice. Every case turns on the words of the order and its own facts. Contacting Deep Waters Law does not create an attorney-client relationship.