Is a person who fails to pay child support typically entitled to a court appointed attorney?

The problem is that your brother's ex is now facing criminal prosecution, i.e. criminal contempt of court for failure to obey the court's order. If your brother proves the contempt, his attorney can ask for the ex to pay your brother's attorney fees as well. But here is the rub - if she isn't working she can't pay child support and she can't pay the attorney fees. Your brother is incurring the cost of revenge. Of course if she can pay and just isn't, then it is well worth it to pursue her.

Generally the court will advise of the right to counsel or offer to appoint one if the defendant cannot afford one when the judge is contemplating jail time. Be patient, thing as going your brother's way. He should engage an attorney to represent him to assist in getting the best result. As of appointed counsel, she is not free and she will be expected to repay the cost to the state/county over time.

Not in Florida. Court appointed attorneys are typically only used in criminal cases.

Only someone accused of a criminal act or incarcerated is entitled to a court appointed attorney.Your brother is not.

If the judge plans on putting her in jail, she has the right to see if she qualifies for a public defender.

It sounds as if she is being charged with Contempt of Court, as such she could face jail time. If, after a court hearing, you have the possibility of being incarcerated AND you don't have the funds to hire your own attorney, you may be appointed an attorney to represent you. Because your brother is not facing any jail sentence (he's not being charged with anything), he does not qualify for a public defender. Your brother does not have to hire an attorney for this, but because of the consequences, contempt must follow certain rules of court very carefully, therefore, an attorney would be very helpful to him. In California, your brother's ex is the one with the burden to prove that she was unable to pay support, after your brother is able to show that there was a valid court order, that she was aware of the order (she was served or she was present in court when the order was made), and that she did not pay as ordered. These three things are quite easy to prove. Then the burden shifts to her to prove she was literally unable to pay and that she didn't put other debts above the obligation to support her children. Your brother will probably want to subpoena her bank records during the months in question, the court's self help center can help him with that.

When the consequence of not obeying a court order is possibly jail, that person is entitled to a public defender.