Opinion ID: 2330692
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Present Ability To Pay

Text: The final and most egregious deficiency presented by the entire record is the lack of any finding by the District Court, at any stage of the proceedings, that the Wellses had an ability to pay the amount ordered to be paid. Inherent in the definition of both civil and criminal contempt is an ability to comply with the court's order as well as a contumacious refusal to do so. As discussed, only the latter may rest on a past ability to comply accompanied by a past refusal to do so. Contempt by its very nature is inapplicable to one who is powerless to comply with the court order. It would be utilized against only that person who, being able to comply, contumaciously disobeys, or refuses to abide by the court order. Yoder v. County of Cumberland, 278 A.2d 379, 390 (Me.1971). See also Hammond v. Sandstrom, 376 So.2d 466 (Fla.1979); McDaniel v. McDaniel, 256 Md. 684, 262 A.2d 52, 57 (1970). When a creditor seeks to coerce compliance with a prior order to pay by means of a civil contempt commitment, a specific finding of present ability to pay is expressly required by our decision in Yoder. We there held that Maine law prohibits incarceration as a means to coerce payment of a money obligation when the debtor is honestly indigent and therefore lacks the power to pay. There must be a hearing prior to incarceration to inquire into the reasons for nonpayment. A determination of the initial obligation to pay followed by a determination of a failure to pay is inadequate to safeguard the debtor's right to remain out of jail if honestly indigent. Procedural due process requires that the debtor be given a subsequent hearing on any honest lack of property and consequent inability to pay, new facts that are without necessary logical relationship to the original adjudication of the requirement to pay. 278 A.2d 379, 386-87. When held against the rigid requirement of a finding that the Wellses had an ability to comply, the District Court's actions reveal multiple errors. The motion for contempt filed November 12 alleged an arrearage of 10 weeks, which would have been no more than $135.00 on that date. By the December 16 hearing, the arrearage could not have been greater than $195.00. The District Court made no finding that the Wellses could have paid that amount. The District Court stated only that the Wellses were in a better financial position in September than they were in July. [6] The District Court then ordered the Wellses to pay, not just the past-due installments, but the entire judgment. Thus, in response to a contempt motion, the District Court entered an entirely new order of payment, absent any finding of any ability to pay or any other apparent compliance with the disclosure statute. The December hearing was thus grossly inadequate to support a contempt finding or an order of commitment. Further, the commitment of the Wellses on March 3, supported only by a finding that they had failed to pay the entire judgment, was exactly the abuse which Yoder sought to avoid. Prior to incarceration for failure to pay a money obligation as ordered by the court, there must be a hearing to inquire into whether nonpayment was the result of an honest inability to pay. Absent such an inquiry, the incarceration violated the Wellses' right to procedural due process. 278 A.2d at 388. The District Court's multiple errors throughout the contempt proceeding, culminating in the unlawful incarceration were apparent on the record presented to the Superior Court. We conclude that, as a matter of law, the petitioners should have been granted habeas corpus relief. We therefore reverse the judgment of the Superior Court. The entry is: Petitioners discharged. All concurring.