A party is in contempt when he/she willfully disobeyed the court order.
Elements of contempt are as follows: a. Valid Order, b. Knowledge of Order, c. Failure to Comply.
Ability to comply with a support order is not an element of the contempt which must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt by the Petitioner. Inability to comply is an affirmative defense which must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence by the alleged contemner. Moss v. Superior Court (Ortiz) (1998) 17 Cal. 4th 396, 71 Cal. Rptr. 2d 215.