Legal Question in Family Law in California

I suggest leaving the visitation alone. Contempt hearings in family law matters are very tricky. If he does not have a lawyer, and asks for one, the court can appoint a public defender. Contempt has two facets, coercive known as "civil" contempt, and punitive, known as "criminal" contempt. The purpose behind coercive contempt is to force him to pay. In this scenario, lawyers say that the contemnor has the keys to the jail in his hand, and can let himself go by complying. For first violations, the court does not always order jail, but can order up to 120 hours of community service for the first finding of contempt. (Code of Civ. Proc., sect. 1218 subd (c)(1).) I have seen family lawyers try to label each failure to pay as a different finding, but the judges don't enforce it that way. Even if he was given jail, it would be a short sentence (120 hours) and not of a permanent nature to justify modification of the visitation schedule in the long run.