REMO-Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Order

4m1n4

Remo are pretty cagey about giving you any info. I suggest you actually call the local county court in (Florida?) where he lives. They are usually very helpful. The REMO process in the US has a different name - UIFSA - but it is pretty efficient. A central authority in the receiving State receive your docs (similar to the REMO office) and then send them through to the local court. The local court will then locate the NRP using information that you have provided but also the Federal Parent Locator. They confirm his address and then will send him a notice of registration of your order. He then has 20 days to request a hearing to contest the registration. If he requests a hearing it will normally just be in front of a hearing officer, rather than a judge and this is when you can agree what the arrears are etc given he has made some payments . He can only use 7 defenses against registration (can send you a link if you care - but they are fairly limiting). If he doesn't request a hearing the order automatically gets registered and then the state's child support enforcement team will do everything they can to enforce. Normally they deduct from his employer.

Hope this was helpful. I found the local courts in the US to be much more responsive than either remo or my local court and they will be able to give you a full status update.

Hope this helps...

PlayingHardball

4m1n4 wrote: »

Dear Playing Hardball

As I said in my first post, trying to get another jurisdiction to create a child support order is very difficult. I would suggest that you get one made here and then use Remo to enforce it.

If you know where he lives I suggest you go through the process of getting a court order here for child support. You basically have to apply for what is called "ancillary relief". If you have any further questions....

4m1n4 - thank you, that was an incredibly useful post which will not only help me but also others on this thread, now and in the future.

I went through ancillary relief procedures in my divorce. At the time, my solicitors advice was to not put child maintenance into my consent order, which I now regret.

Ive got an even more complicated situation in that the CSA have recently become involved again. This is due to the fact that I appealed their decision to close my case in the first place when I informed them that the ex moved to work outside of the UK, and I recently won my appeal. (my daughter and I wooped out loud when I opened the tribunal results letter) He is now considered habitually resident, a real challenge to prove in our circumstance but one that I encourage others to take if your circumstances fit the description of legally being habitually resident. The frustrating thing is, now that CSA are involved, I can foresee them making more errors and not getting anywhere as this is such a complicated area of Child support law and enforcement and my experience shows me that most people that work for the CSA do not have the necessary knowledge for complex cases.

So, I'm in a bit of a quandry whether to proceed with the ancillary relief route you have suggested in order to go the REMO route, or stick with the CSA route. I don't want to waste anyones time and wish things were clearer.

It will be fantastic when the CMEC have the power to take foreign income into account in child maintenance assessments. This is being challeneged and looked into now.

Do you have to have a solicitor to apply for ancillary relief through the courts? I have become quite familiar with the legalities of CSA laws in the UK and don't mind doing more leg work if this is something I can put into motion myself with getting into debt with legal fees.

I'm entirely convinced the ex will have to pay one day, I'm not the sort to give up or give in. Sadly for the ex.

PlayingHardball

4m1n4 wrote: »

Remo are pretty cagey about giving you any info. I suggest you actually call the local county court in (Florida?) where he lives. They are usually very helpful. The REMO process in the US has a different name - UIFSA - but it is pretty efficient.
Hope this helps...

WOW - Thanks for coming out of hiding, great to have you on board in this thread!

Your posts are really helpful and right up there with great information provided by AnxiousMUM on the Canadian REMO front! :T

4m1n4

You will have more flexibility with the ancillary relief route to get all sources of income taken into consideration. You don't need a lawyer to do the ancillary relief process there are a number of guides on the internet. Just remember from your perspective all that matters are the costs of the child. I did a spreadsheet of absolutely everything I had ever spent on the child and any payment I had ever received. I asked for a lump sum to compensate for the child's costs prior to the application and periodical payments going forward. You can also ask for carer costs.

I am not sure why you care where he is habitually resident. The most important thing is where the child is habitually resident and who has jurisdiction over the child, which I presume is in the UK. I have not had any dealings with the CSA but I have to believe that if the majority of his income comes from abroad, I am not sure how they can help you. They can't deduct from source, if the source is out of the country. Neither can they create a court order that you can process through REMO. At least with a court order you could either use REMO to ask them to enforce that particular order, or you could use the order to perhaps put a lien on any property he may have in the UK.

AnxiousMum

That's really interesting information on the Ancillary Relief. I had always thought that Ancillary relief was purely for spousal support if needed - you have shown that train of thought to be wrong! When my ex was refusing to pay, I was on the verge of going for Ancillary Relief due to the fact that I had reduced my hours to part time whilst we were together, reducing my pension contributions etc., and thought that as I was running the household at the time, I should still be reaping the rewards in my later years. I had thought that this might be an avenue to ensure that SOMETHING would be forthcoming if not child support. However, the maintenance enforcement people did what they say on the box, and got what was owed. Should be just another couple of days before the final arrears cheque clears - and yes, we are ALL, new partner and new kids included, going out for a big slap up meal and then booking a holiday

PHB - you don't need a solicitor to represent you for an Ancillary Relief order - maybe if he was here and might show up at court, but definitely not if he's not going to appear in court. His representation would be by correspondence, which you should receive copies of before attending court. He could I guess get legal representation here to represent him, but you would still have copies of the paperwork submitted and be able to research and gather your evidence. You don't strike me as someone who needs a lawyer to actually represent you - maybe for some bits of advice, but not for representation

PlayingHardball

I cared about the habitually residency bit because it would mean the CSA had jurisdiction on him. i.e., a variation application can be considered, based on UK property and or lifestyle inconsistent with earnings, etc (whichever route you take)

Do you have any links for me on applying for ancilliary relief? If not, I'll happily do my research.

AnxiousMum

PHB - it's usually done as part of, or even after, a divorce. So you would file a......CA1 rings a bell......form with your local magistrates court. I was surprised that you can actually still go for it here after the divorce is final.

Sorry - it's Form A here's a link that describes the process
http://www.ondivorce.co.uk/scforders.htm

ETA: and wow....it's right there in the pink box at the bottom of the above link - that it can be used to make an interim order for child support whilst the CSA or other agency get it together!

PlayingHardball

AnxiousMum wrote: »

PHB - it's usually done as part of, or even after, a divorce. So you would file a......CA1 rings a bell......form with your local magistrates court. I was surprised that you can actually still go for it here after the divorce is final.

Sorry - it's Form A here's a link that describes the process
http://www.ondivorce.co.uk/scforders.htm

ETA: and wow....it's right there in the pink box at the bottom of the above link - that it can be used to make an interim order for child support whilst the CSA or other agency get it together!

Yeah but....

One of the points of a order in the pink box states the following:

Make a periodical payments order for the benefit of any children (child maintenance) - this is only if the matter is agreed. If not the Child Support Agency must deal with the matter except in certain circumstances ie a very high earner/resident outside the UK

So....the above leads me to believe that the CSA will need to deal with it anyway (as there is no way in hell he will agree to any money coming to what he sees as my greedy hands)

Although....he is a very high earner;)

Why didnt I find this information 2.5 years ago! Thank you so much for it, and thanks for the link Anxious!

AnxiousMum

You never know what he might agree too though - with all the paperwork that he'd have to submit.......he might agree to anything in the interim just to stop you digging!

FeeFee

Hi
I am in a situation where I believe REMO may be my only option. The NRP left the country in September (Netherlands) and has not contributed since then. We had an 'arrangement for children' in our divorce terms which included financial support.
Questions before I start the process - Is this the same as or equivalent to a consent order?
If not, should I try and get a consent order first?
Sorry I am a bit confused by the terminology and would like to know a little bit more before visiting my local court.
Thanks
Fiona