Find the motion you will use below to learn more about the court forms you will need. If you aren’t sure which motion you need to use, read over Which motion do I need? to learn more about each one.
Motion to Modify
You can get the Motion to Modify forms packet from the court, but they may charge you $5.00. You can also get the Motion to Modify forms packet online from the Maine Judicial Branch website. No matter where you get the forms, you can follow the instructions below.
Filling out the Motion to Modify (FM-062) and the other forms you need to file:
1. First, read Form FM-088 very carefully. This form is not something you fill out. It gives you instructions on how to fill out a Motion to Modify and what to do with all the court forms.
2. Next, go to Form FM-062. Fill out the heading portion of Form FM-062 by copying from your original judgment, or order. The court location, docket number, and names of the plaintiff and defendant stay the same. If you were the plaintiff during the first case, you are still the plaintiff. If you were the defendant, you should still put yourself as the defendant. If you can't find your judgment (the order), you can buy a copy from the clerk at the District Court where you first got your order.
3. Next, on the Motion form, if you are filing for a change in child support only, check the box at the top right under where it says Motion to Modify.
4. Under #1 and #2 on the form, state whether you were the plaintiff or defendant in the first case and where you and the other person now live, if you know, unless this information is confidential. You must make reasonable efforts to find the other person.
5. Under #3, fill in the date of the judgment or order you are trying to modify. Check one or more boxes to indicate the type of changes you want to make. Be sure to include all the changes you wish to make. If you do not check a box, you may not be able to ask the court for it later. If you are asking to change child support, you will need to fill out Form-050, Child Support Affidavit.
6. Under #4 and #5, fill in the child information requested, unless that information is confidential. Under #6 and #7, state whether anybody else besides you and the other person has a possible right to custody or visitation with the children and whether there are any other court cases about the children.
7. Under #8, answer the questions about public assistance. If your children have received TANF, food stamps, SSI, general assistance, or MaineCare, you must send a copy of the Motion to DHHS at the address on the form by mail.
8. Under #9, explain in detail the Substantial Change In Circumstances that has happened that is making you ask for a change in the prior judgment. Remember, if 3 years have passed since your most recent child support order, you can file a motion asking for a change in child support without having to prove a "substantial change in circumstances." If you run out of room, you can attach another piece of paper, but make sure you get that piece of paper notarized, too, and make sure you put the docket number at the top.
9. Under #10, tell the court what changes you are looking for. This could include changes in custody, visitation, primary residence, pick-ups and drop-offs, decision-making for your children, child support, spousal support, or other issues affecting your family. If you need another page, make sure to notarize it and put the docket number at the top.
10. Sign and date the motion, state whether you are the plaintiff or defendant, and put your address and phone number unless this information is confidential. This is a sworn document. You must sign the Motion in front of a lawyer, notary public, or court clerk who will notarize your signature. Do the same for any extra pieces of paper you attached to your Motion.
11. On the fifth page, fill in the names of the plaintiff and defendant, the location of the court, the docket number, and the address of the court. The rest of the page is about how you served the other person. The next section gives you more information about serving the other person.
12. Next, complete the other forms in your packet. Form FM-088, which are instructions, can help you. Fill in all of the blanks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. If I am afraid of the other party, do I have to say where I am living or what my telephone number is when I fill out the court forms?
A. No. You can write "confidential" where the forms ask for address and telephone. Then ask the clerk for an Affidavit for Confidential Address form or find it online on the Maine Judicial Branch website. Write down why you think this information must be kept private to keep you or your children safe. Sign it in front of a notary public, court clerk, or attorney. Then give it to the clerk along with your other papers. The clerk will then "seal" this information so that the others can't see it. The other party can object to this in writing. If they do object, the court may hold a hearing to decide whether the clerk must still keep the information secret.
Motion to Enforce
You can get the Motion to Enforce forms packet from the court, but they may charge you $5.00. You can also get the Motion to Enforce forms packet online from the Maine Judicial Branch website. No matter where you get the forms, you can follow the instructions below.
Filling out the Motion to Enforce (FM-070)
1. First, read the instructions on FM-089. This is not a form you need to file, but it tells you how to fill out the forms and what to do with them.
2. To complete the top part of each form, copy from your original judgment or prior order. The location, docket number, and names of plaintiff and defendant stay the same. If you were the plaintiff in the first case, you are still the plaintiff. If you were the defendant, you are still the defendant. If you can't find your old judgment or order, you can buy a copy from the clerk at the court where you had your first case.
3. On the Motion form, if you are asking for enforcement of child support only, check the box under the words “Motion to Enforce.”
4. Under #1 and #2, check whether you were the plaintiff or defendant in the first case. Tell the court where you live now and where the other person lives now, unless this information is confidential, or whether you don’t know where the other person lives. You must make reasonable efforts to find the other person.
5. Under #3, fill in the date of the order you are trying to enforce. Check the boxes next to the issues you are looking for the court to enforce. Make sure you check all boxes that apply to you or the court may not let you bring it up later. If you are filing about child support, you will have to file and exchange Form FM-050, Child Support Affidavit.
6. Under #3 you can select the part of the order that the other person is not following.
7. Under #4, #5, #6, and #7 write down the names of your children, where they live and have lived, unless that information is confidential, and whether there are any other cases that involve the children or anyone else who has a possible right to custody or visitation with the children.
8. Under #8, answer the questions about your children and whether they have received public assistance benefits. If your children have received TANF, SNAP (food stamps), SSI, general assistance, or MaineCare, you must send a copy of your Motion to DHHS at the address listed on the form by mail.
9. Under #9 you have the chance to describe in more detail how the other party has violated the prior court order. You must describe the violation clearly. List the reasons in the same order as they are listed in #2. Be brief, but use a blank piece of paper if you need more space. Put a docket number on any extra pieces of paper and make sure each extra piece of paper is notarized, too.
10. Finally, under #10, explain specifically what you want the Court to order the other party to do. Again, explain this as simply and briefly as you can. Attach another sheet of paper if you need more room, but make sure to put the docket number at the top and have it notarized.
11. Sign and date the Motion, state whether you are the plaintiff or defendant, and put your address and phone number unless this information is confidential. This is a sworn document. You must sign the Motion in front of a lawyer, notary public, or court clerk who will notarize your signature. Do the same for any extra pieces of paper you attached to your Motion.
12. On the fifth page, put the address of the court. The rest of the page is about how you served the other person. You can learn more about service in the next section.
13. Next, complete the other forms in your packet. Fill in all of the blanks. Form FM-089, which are instructions, can help you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. If I am afraid of the other party, do I have to say where I am living or what my telephone number is when I fill out the court forms?
A. No. You can write "confidential" where the forms ask for address and telephone. Then ask the clerk for an Affidavit for Confidential Address form or find it online on the Maine Judicial Branch website. Write down why you think this information must be kept private to keep you or your children safe. Sign it in front of a notary public, court clerk, or attorney. Then give it to the clerk along with your other papers. The clerk will then "seal" this information so that the others can't see it. The other party can object to this in writing. If they do object, the court may hold a hearing to decide whether the clerk must still keep the information secret.
Motion for Contempt
You can get the Motion for Contempt forms packet from the court—you have to get the Subpoena from the Court, and they will charge you $5.00 for the signed Subpoena. You can also get the Motion for Contempt forms packet online from the Maine Judicial Branch website - but you will still need to get the signed Subpoena from the court, which costs $5. No matter where you get the forms, you can follow the instructions below.
Filling out the Motion for Contempt (FM-068) and the other forms you need to file:
Motion for Contempt
- First, read the instructions on FM-090. This is not a form you need to file, but it tells you how to fill out the forms and what to do with them.
- To complete the top part of each form, copy from your original judgment or prior order. The location, docket number, and names of plaintiff and defendant stay the same. If you were the plaintiff during the first case, you are still the plaintiff. If you were the defendant during the first case, you are still the defendant. If you can't find your old judgment or order, you can buy a copy from the clerk at the court where you got your first order.
- Check the box under the “Motion for Contempt” heading if your motion is about child support only.
- Then at #1 and #2, and include information about your current address. On #2 include information about the other side’s current address if you know it.
- At #3 write the date of the order you are trying to enforce. Then check the box or boxes which fit your issue. Make sure you check all the boxes that apply to you or the court may not let you bring it up later.
- At #4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, the form asks for some basic information about your mutual children and about any public assistance benefits they may have received. List the names of the children and where they have lived, unless that information is confidential. Say whether there are any other court cases about the children and whether anyone else other than you and the other person has a possible right to custody or visitation. If the children have been on TANF, SNAP (food stamps), SSI, general assistance, or MaineCare, you must send a copy of your Motion by mail to DHHS at the address listed on the form.
- At #9 explain what the other party has done to violate the earlier order. Follow the list of issues you checked in #3 and explain each violation in the same order as the check-boxes. In order to win a motion for contempt, you need to show that the defendant had the ability to follow the order and simply chose not to. So, in this section, you should try to explain why you think the defendant could have obeyed the order. Try to keep your explanations short. If you need more space, you can continue onto a blank sheet of paper, but make sure to write the docket number at the top and have that piece of paper notarized.
- At #11, you can ask that the other person bring documents which you think may be useful to your case to the hearing.
- Finally, at #12, check the box or boxes that describe what you want the Judge to order to fix the problem. Check the first two boxes. The third box asks for “Remedial Sanctions.” These are orders the Judge could give to make sure that the order is followed or to pay you for the harm the other party has caused you. For example, the Judge could order extra visitation days to replace those that the other party refused to give in violation of the order. The Judge could also jail or fine the other party until that person obeys the order, or make the other person give you money for what you lost while the other person was not following the order. Another thing the Judge can do is require the other party to catch up on child support that was owed but not paid. Check this box if you are asking for these kinds of things from the court. Check the fourth box if you want the Judge to order the other party to pay the costs for what you spent to file and deal with the Motion for Contempt.
- Sign and date the Motion, and list your address and telephone number unless this information is confidential. Make sure to have the clerk, a notary public, or an attorney watch you sign the motion and sign it, too.
Before you go to court on your Motion, think about what you think the Judge should do to fix the problem. Then you will be prepared to explain exactly what you want the Court to order.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. If I am afraid of the other party, do I have to say where I am living or give my phone number when I fill out the court forms?
A. No. You can write "confidential" where the forms ask for address and telephone. Then ask the clerk for an Affidavit for Confidential Address form or find it online on the Maine Judicial Branch website. Write down why you think this information must be kept private to keep you or your children safe. Sign it in front of a notary public, court clerk, or attorney. Then give it to the clerk along with your other papers. The clerk will then "seal" this information so that the others can't see it. The other party can object to this in writing. If they do object, the court may hold a hearing to decide whether the clerk must still keep the information secret.
Order
Next, fill out the form that says Scheduling Order on the upper right-hand side. Fill in the top lines the same way you did with the Motion (copying from your original judgment or order). In the large boxes, add the current addresses for plaintiff and defendant, unless this information is confidential.
The Judge will fill out the rest of the form, by entering a hearing date and time and signing it.
Subpoena
You have to get the Subpoena from the court clerk at the court where your first case was decided. It costs $5.00, unless you got a fee waiver.
The third form you have to fill out is the Subpoena for Hearing on Motion for Contempt. This subpoena tells the other party to come to the court hearing on your Motion. You can also make the other party give you papers or objects that the Judge should see to help them believe and understand your story. For example, you may want to ask for the other party's financial records, tax returns, or other papers if they would help to show that the other party was financially able to follow the order.
Fill out the top part of the form with the location, docket number, and the names of the parties. Next, fill in the name of the other party and check the right box to show if they are the plaintiff or defendant. (For now, leave the middle section—“notification of hearing”--blank.)
If you want to make the other party bring documents to the hearing, check the small box and list the papers you want. If your list is too long, go on to another piece of paper, attach it and note that there is a second page to the subpoena which is “incorporated.” Write the docket number at the top of the new page.
Check the small box, showing whether you are the plaintiff or defendant. Fill in the date.
The clerk's signature should be on the form. The Sheriff will fill out the back page.
Summary Sheet
The fourth, and last, form to fill out is the Summary Sheet. Follow the detailed Instructions for Completing the Summary Sheet that came in your forms packet, Form FM-090.
After you finish filling out the forms
- Make 2 copies of your Motion and 1 copy of your Summary Sheet.
- Then take the original forms back to the clerk and keep the copies. (If you are asking for a fee waiver, file the waiver forms at the same time. You can get these forms on our website.)
- The clerk will show your papers to the Judge. The Court will set a date and time for the hearing. If you have done everything correctly, the Judge will sign the Order. The clerk may fill in the hearing date and time and court location on the Subpoena for you. If not, add that information to the Subpoena by copying it from the Order.
- Make a copy of the Order and 2 copies of the Subpoena.
Then you will be responsible for serving the Motion, which is explained next in this guide.