What if the court finds the husband indigent for filing fees – Can the court order incarceration for unpaid child support? – NO
What if the court finds the husband indigent for filing fees – Can the court order incarceration for unpaid child support? – NO; These are inconsistent. The court in Bowen v. Bowen 471 So. 2d 1274, 1279 (Fla. 1985) states “the finding of indigent status affirmatively established the father’s inability to pay the purge”.
In plain English, the court’s finding that the husband was indigent was also a finding that he did not have the present ability to pay. Incarceration can only be ordered if the court finds “present ability to pay”. If the court finds the husband indigent, he would not have the ability to pay at the same time.
