Short answer. Yes, potentially. If a court, after reviewing your income and expenses, ordered you to pay a judgment in fixed monthly installments, failing to pay any installment when due without a good excuse can be punished as indirect contempt — which can include jail time — under the Rules of Court.
What the law says
If, upon investigation of his current income and expenses, it appears that the earnings of the judgment obligor for his personal services are more than necessary for the support of his family, the court may order that he pay the judgment in fixed monthly installments
Rule 39, Section 40 — Order for application of property and income to satisfaction of judgment. Read the full provision →
What the law says
upon his failure to pay any such installment when due without good excuse, may punish him for indirect contempt.
Rule 39, Section 40 — Order for application of property and income to satisfaction of judgment. Read the full provision →
Where this installment order comes from
Rule 39, Section 40 lets a court, in the process of enforcing a judgment, order that a judgment obligor's property or money not exempt from execution be applied to satisfy what is owed. It goes further where the obligor earns income from personal services: if, after investigating that person's current income and expenses, it appears the earnings are more than necessary to support their family, the court may order the judgment paid in fixed monthly installments rather than all at once.
What happens when an installment is missed
The same provision then addresses exactly what happens when a scheduled installment is not paid: upon failure to pay any such installment when due without good excuse, the court may punish the obligor for indirect contempt. So the risk is not automatic for simply falling behind — the rule specifically requires the failure to be without good excuse. A missed payment that has a genuine, justified reason behind it is treated differently from one that does not.
Why the good-excuse standard matters
This is the part that gives the obligor real room to explain. If circumstances beyond your control — job loss, illness, a genuine drop in income — caused you to miss an installment, that can be relevant to whether the missed payment counts as one made without good excuse. The rule does not punish every missed installment automatically; it punishes the ones the court, after hearing the obligor, finds were missed without a valid justification. That determination is made by the court, not assumed from the fact of the missed payment alone.
What being punished for indirect contempt can mean
Because the rule expressly frames the consequence as indirect contempt, it carries the possibility of penalties associated with contempt of court, which can include a fine, imprisonment, or both, depending on how the court exercises its authority in that particular case. This is a real consequence, not a formality, which is why explaining a genuine reason for missing an installment matters before the court decides whether the failure to pay was excused or not.