REMO-Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Order

knithappens

Micro, sorry i have not replied before now, comp died. I have still not sent my new app, almost done just waiting on a bank statement. will keep the attourney generals name for when they send my app, i can see things dragging on

AnxiousMum

insurgente wrote: »

Hi all,

Don't mean to intrude on this thread, but I thought my query was better placed being asked here, rather than starting a new thread.

Reading through some of the stories on this thread, I am honestly shocked at some of the lows that some people seem to want to stoop. I have a lot of respect for the members on here who have battled through all this, and I admire your strength.



Has anyone here been on the receiving end of a REMO?

To cut a long story short, I live in the UK and my child was born and continues to live abroad; not a Ryanair flight away. Unfortunately when my child was born, I had nowhere near the money to get there. Apparently, in the country where she was born, a child has to be registered with the names of both parents. As I was not there to get my name on the birth certificate, a ''paternity investigation'' was opened against me.

For months I tried discussing with the country's embassy here, and various departments and lawyers in the country itself, to try and find out how I could go about getting my name on the birth certificate. After getting several different and not particular clear answers (how an embassy doesn't know its own country's laws, I don't know) I decided it would be easier to do it all in person in the country concerned, which I could do whilst seeing my child.

Fast forward.... I knew that this ''investigation'' would be opened against me and that it would take a long time, being international. I had hoped I'd managed to resolve it all whilst I was there.

But recently, some documents arrived at a house I used to live at: court documents. They were dated as the process initially starting April 2010; before I'd managed to go there and ''resolve" everything (or so I'd thought). But they just arrived now, when I thought they would have been called off.

However, the strange thing was, they arrived with no stamp and had "hand delivered" written on the envelope. They were not given to anyone and noone signed to prove they'd been received. With such important documents, I'd assume they'd need proof they'd been received (if not by me, then atleast someone?) In the US, isn't it a police officer who serves such documents?

I've recently called up REMO to enquire about my case, as I had initially asked them about this 18 months ago and heard nothing else. They looked up my name on their system and saw no case for me .... They also told me, that if documents were received and passed on to me, they'd come with a letter from my local magistrates court. However, this envelope came with nothing; just the original documents and a translation in to English. The envelope had no stamp on it and my name and address were hand written.

Mystery...who could've delivered them and just left them without bothering to make sure they were received? If nothing was received from my local magistrates court, can I assume I don't have a case to answer (as of yet)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

They would've been delivered possibly by a process server....but doubt that they should've been left!

There would not be a REMO case for you in the Magistrates courts here as there isn't one open here. Your case is being heard in the courts in the country the papers were issued, where your child lives. You would need to respond directly to the court there with documentation, and they will make a decision. The decision made there, is then sent to the court here. That is when a case will be opened against you - it's at this point that the Magistrates court reviews the order, deems it to be fair or not, and registers it in the court here, or, recommends amendments to it. If it is registered here, then it becomes enforceable within the UK.

insurgente

Hi AnxiousMum...thanks for the useful reply; though it makes me worried again!

so I suppose these documents have just been passed to me straight from abroad (by persons unknown) and that is why REMO have never heard of me? The document I've received is asking for a British judge to pass it on, so I'd assumed it'd come via something British ...oh well

I'd assumed I'd resolved most of this before. In fact, this recent document is signed by the same person that I dealt with when I went out there (to sort it out...or so i'd thought ). I don't get why this wasn't stopped. Or maybe it has been but this process takes so long that they arrived anyway

Frustrating thing is that, any time I find a few minutes to call up the relevant office abroad, noone picks up the phone

AnxiousMum

What is being asked for in the documentation? Has the ex asked for the same as what was agreed between the two of you? Or have they asked for more, less, the court to decide? Whatever the two of you agreed, would not have been enforceable. By going through REMO, it makes it enforceable in the UK and the UK courts can take action against you.

I went for years on an agreement with my ex - all was good till he got into another relationship and had another child. She has a problem with him paying child support, in fact, she has a problem with him having had a previous life and having children who came from that! That's when problems started, and our agreement was 'unenforceable', hence my reason for having to go down the route of REMO.

Although going through REMO might sound a bit aggressive, it's something i would recommend anybody doing to make any agreement enforceable. If the paying parent has no issue paying, then there should never be an issue with it being enforceable. it does protect the children however, should there ever be a change of heart from the NRP. If you are a willing participant to the supporting of your children, if the other parent is trying to register the amount you agreed, then you should never have an issue.

insurgente

It's a little complicated to explain, but I'll give it a go. In the country in question, a child cannot be registered with one parent, he/she must have both on the birth certificate. My name was put forward, but as I wasn't there to fill everything in properly and in person, it seems they've taken this as a ''refusal''.

So this is the investigation, and I'm told that they usually hammer out child maintenance payments at the same time (as you say, it is better to have an agreement). So I'm not sure how much (if any of this, as it's automatic) is my ex's doing and how much is the doing of the magistrate (don't think that's the right term, but hopefully you know what I mean). Things got a bit out of hand between me and my ex a couple of months ago, but this was long after these documents were dated.

The documentation is asking for me to submit to a DNA test (which isn't necessary, I thought I'd got my name on the birth certificate when I was over there) and also regarding monthly support. There were a couple of things in the translated document that I found curious/inaccurate/untrue. I'm not sure if they were badly translated, or if it's the magistrate (or whoever) trying to improve their case.

It gives 2 wildly different figures as monthly demands; 1 of which is pretty much what I'm already paying, so I wouldn't have a problem in somehow making an agreement with that

We've managed to deal with each other more or less amicably. My parents divorced when I was young and they never dragged us through the courts. Perhaps I was naive enough to think that the same could apply for me.... But perhaps such an agreement in a court would be better. If I deal directly with the foreign court, it won't become a REMO? It's taken 18 months for me to receive these documents. Who knows how long it'll take for me to hear back once I respond.

I phoned several numbers several times again today, and noone picked up, ahhhhh... I just have this paranoia sometimes that this is hanging over me, and somehow I'll be arrested if I go over to visit my child

AnxiousMum

I don't know what the fear of REMO is......all that REMO means is that if you default on your payments, enforcement action can be taken against you.

To avoid that - make your payments on time, and if circumstances change, then you get into a Magistrates Court here and apply for a Variation order to accommodate your new circumstances.

Do you have a copy of the birth certificate with your name on it? No idea what country the ex is in, but it may be that if you are not married, a DNA test is required to prove parenthood (maybe to stop someone coming back years later saying they're not the Dad).

you say you weren't there to sign the birth certificate, so therefore you need to provide a DNA test but later say you thought you got your name on the birth certificate......

If you are on speaking terms with the ex......why not call and ask her the sequence of events? Was this paperwork filled out before your visit etc. etc......it can take some time, but shouldn't take more than 3 months in majority of countries to receive teh application and get an info pack out to you.

insurgente

I'm a civilian! Lawyers and courts scare me!

Well I intend to reply to these documents somehow... In English or the foreign language (I speak it, but worry that my writing wouldn't be good enough for a court of law). If I deal with them directly, it won't become a REMO? Or It'll be passed to my local magistrate fr them to enforce?

I don't have a copy of the birth certificate.... for various reasons my ex didn't want to give me anything like that, but now things are more civil (weirdly so...I'm worried) it might be possible. If I can ever get someone on the phone over there, maybe they could explain better

I was not there initially to get my name on the birth certificate, but if I had been, I assume they wouldn't want me to do DNA test. I don't know if they'd want me to do one now, as far as I'm concerned I'd done what was needed to get my name on it (and this cannot be reversed).

I don't think my ex is even aware these documents have arrived...she hasn't spoken about it in a long, long time

knithappens

Sent my application back beginning of the week, looks like they stuck to their word and fast trak my app, as i have to go to court in just over a week to swear in ,and they are also going to make a maintenace order, as there was not one made when we divorced, the legal adviser said i need to think about how much I want, which left me flumoxed as I thought she would be telling me, i dont know his exact income as he lies to me, but not sure what percentage to ask for or where to look.

He has no other children just our daughter. Any advice as what a typical amount is??

lizzydee

Hi all
Thanks for posting your experiences - a most useful thread to find. May I ask some information/advice?

I am in S. Africa, and my ex in the UK. We have a consent & maintenance paper which we agreed on when we split; we had it drawn up by a lawyer and made an order in South Africa, which is where I live with my child. Ex determined he wanted to pay 15% of his nett income as maintenance, which is what was specified in the agreement.

It was subsequently made an Order in SA court. When he reduced payments by about 40% after a few months (early 2009), I pursued it via the REMO process. It's taken a while, but I heard last week that he's been served papers in Britain for the reciprocal enforcement of maintenance. My question though - what does that mean? Are they likely to enforce arrears, or just payments going forward from this point? He's threatening to get a lawyer and oppose/appeal it - is that possible? And if so, in which country? What exactly is the process of enforcement? Once it's gone as far as REMO papers being served, is payment a matter of course?

Many thanks!
L

mico62

knithappens wrote: »

Sent my application back beginning of the week, looks like they stuck to their word and fast trak my app, as i have to go to court in just over a week to swear in ,and they are also going to make a maintenace order, as there was not one made when we divorced, the legal adviser said i need to think about how much I want, which left me flumoxed as I thought she would be telling me, i dont know his exact income as he lies to me, but not sure what percentage to ask for or where to look.

He has no other children just our daughter. Any advice as what a typical amount is??

don't know how many kids you've got but this link should help

http://www.mississippifamilylawyerblog.com/2011/02/child-support-guidelines-in-mi.html

My ex wouldn't have a percentage in our order and asked for a random amount to be entered - it was a fraction of what he should've paid but at least I get that because I know his employer is a bit shady when it comes to cash in hand payments and would probably say he earns a lot less.

I'm chasing Texas at the moment because they haven't received a payment in over 3 wks and he's paid weekly.