September 2014 | 131 S.Ct. 2507 (2011)
Turner v. Rogers (Federal, US Supreme Court, 2011)
The state does not necessarily need to provide counsel to an unrepresented non-custodial parent if the state has “in place alternative procedures that assure a fundamentally fair determination of the critical incarceration-related question, whether the supporting parent is able to comply with the court order.” Those safeguards include (1) notice to the defendant that his ability to pay is a critical issue in the contempt proceeding; (2) the use of a form or the equivalent to elicit relevant financial information; (3) an opportunity at the hearing for the defendant to respond to statements and questions about his financial status; and (4) an express finding by the court that the defendant has the ability to pay.
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