REMO-Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Order

knithappens

Thanks Micro, I found the 14% criteria the other day, we have one child, but then i was left scratchign my head to 14% of what, he told me he quit his job, btu i know he has his GI bill of $1500 a month, drill pay from the national guard another $400, and he had a job too, but he now says he does not work, which i dont believe, i may ask for an amount and see what happens. He does not earn a lot, it is more about him taking some responsibility IYKWIM.

I have not spoken to him in over 2 months, he has not been in contact, and i do not want to contact him as it is not my responsibility, plus he does not ask about our daughter .

even if i take a basic wage of $2000, then that would mean approx $280 which is not a vast amount, but would help with little things for our daughter. I dont know if they would backdate it as he has not supported her at all, and i have asked on my supporting statement for it to be backdated to her birth.

he used to live in texas and I know they are very hard financially on NRP's. I hope you Ex pays up soon.

scaredbird

Hi i have been reading through your posts and would welcome feedback on my situation.
I have just received a letter from CSA to say that my case has been deemed closed since JUNE 2005 as my ex is in Canada. I queried the date and was told that following a review they closed my case. no further explanation given. I was passed to accounts and informed that the payments between 2005 to date are viewed as overpayments and would i enter into an agreement to repay nearly £20,000. Unfortunately i have no contact with the ex for some time and dont know his address in canada. my ex and i were not married and i had to go to CSA in 1997 when he refused to support his child.
I am in total shock, help

AnxiousMum

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??

Ask for a percentage......even though you don't know what your Ex earns, he will be sent paperwork from the court detailing what he needs to send them. You should also be receiving a copy of this paperwork. In that paperwork should be his financials for the last three years or so - so by asking for a percentage, you are asking for a 'fair and reasonable' amount, not a figure plucked out of the air.

In fairness,, the 'typical amount', would be much the same as the CSA rate - 15% of his income. I know that the Canadian guideline amounts are very similar to the amounts here on the CSA.

knithappens

Anxiousmum - thanks, yes I think I am going to ask for 15% I know mississippi is 14% and we are 15, so will stick with that.

The clerk of the court also wants to speak with me wed becasue they were going to reimburse me for my lost documents, however i did also put in my letter about them breaching data protection etc, and I think they are worried lol, like i want to sure, which i dont , it just annoyed me that they lost everything and petentially someone could have all my documents.

insurgente

scaredbird, wow, I too am shocked! I wish I could offer some useful advice, but I'm sure others on this thread can.


Regarding the percentages on here... Can anyone link me to any websites that explain the average amount that is awarded by the courts? i.e. 14%, 15% etc... I saw someone posted a link to Mississippi; is there anything similar for the UK or other parts of the US/Canada? I'm interested in the precedents

AnxiousMum

Do a google on Canada child support guidelines - they are different for various provinces, but they're all listed there. Very straight forward. Keeping in mind though, that a Judge CANNOT agree a lower amount - as it's the Judge's department/ministry who has set the guidelines. They can, however, accept a plea for 'undue hardship', though not many of them get through the courts. They can also award a higher amount than the guidelines, and also order for travel costs, extracurricular school costs etc.

legalexec

I was last on here in May this year but due to pressure of work I have not had an opportunity to catch up since then. To bring you up to date with what is happening regarding my REMO matter. A date was set for a hearing in early August 2011. However my ex decided to request a paternity test despite the fact that we had had a four year relationship during which time he had practically resided at my house. Therefore I was forced to humiliate myself and attend hospital with our son to give samples. The samples then had to be sent off to the US to be tested with his sample. Needless to say the results came back proving he is our child’s father, however due to the time it took we had to change the hearing date.

Another date was set for the end of August but his attorney contacted the Court to ask for an adjournment as he was to be away and we agreed a date in late September. His attorney then contacted the Court to say that my ex could not make that hearing date therefore the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) in California asked the Court to set another hearing date for late October.:(

The hearing was supposed to take place last week however my ex had taken on another attorney apparently because his old attorney had suddenly shut up shop in late August and returned my ex’s file to him. His new attorney claimed he had not yet had a chance to fully familiarise himself with the file (in 1 week) and it also appeared to be incomplete. He was also just about to go away on holiday and then my ex was going to be away and he understood the Court was then closed for a week over Thanksgiving, therefore he wished to apply for an adjournment to the end of November. The Judge asked if I objected and I stated I did. The Judge asked me why I objected and I stated that my ex had already caused the matter to be adjourned several times already. However the Judge stated that in light of the fact that my ex’s attorney needed to familiarise himself with the file and he and his client was going to be away, followed by the Court closing for a week, he had no choice but to adjourn the matter to the end of November. I am naturally seething at my ex getting away with stalling again.

Prior to the hearing being closed, my ex’s attorney said he needed a document from me which I had already provided but I said I was happy to provide another copy. His attorney tried to pressure me to provide him with a contact number and my email address live in Court so that “we could deal with exchange of documents prior to the next hearing”. I said I would ask the DCSS to let him have my contact details as they held them on file. The Attorney kept pressing so the Judge advised him that I had already stated that I would ask the DCSS to let him this information.

It was only at that point that the representative of the DCSS played any part in the hearing by stating that they had the document requested on file and would let my ex’s attorney have a copy of it.

Prior to this hearing I was under the impression that the DCSS would deal with the case and I would only be asked (by them) to provide information if they did not have the answer on file to any queries raised by my ex’s Attorney. However, it was free reign for my ex’s Attorney to attack me therefore I would have been best placed if I had been able to afford my own Attorney. The DCSS had already advised me that they represent neither parent in REMO matters.

Has anybody else taken part by telephone in a REMO matter in the US Courts and if so can they advise me what their experiences were as I feel I might have to find (borrow) the money to get myself an attorney before the next hearing.

teletubby123

Sorry to bother you but I couldn't help but notice all of the information regarding REMO's and also the collecting of arrears. I am only just starting this process and if I know what to do right from the start then hopefully it will be a slightly quicker process as a result!

How long do these things normally take? I haven't seen any resolved cases on here, even after years and this is quite worrying to say the least!

Also has anyone had experience of dealing with the family courts in Singapore?

I already have a deductions of earnings order from the CSA, along with arrears listed and these are not even accurate as he never sent them information and regularly registered for benefit to try to restart the whole collection process. The CSA finally tracked him down a year ago, they deducted money from his wages and estimated the arrears at £6000. This was for over three years and took into consideration the fact that he had registered for benefit etc, without having his total wageslips etc.

He was ordered to pay £590/month in payments, which he got reduced to £390, he then paid these payments-well he had no choice as they were deducted automatically and then he has now left this job and moved to Singapore. I discovered that he had moved to Singapore, not the CSA, this was because they sent me a letter saying that he had registered for benefits. Again, he has done this so his employment status would go unchecked for months. I have since researched him myself, I know where he is working and have a current copy of his C.V. I have discovered on his C.V that he was in his last job for the entire three years, not only that but he was in a senior position in his last job, which the lowest salary was 40k and in this new job I have accessed their website and the lowest salary is 60k!! As a result I do not feel like any assessments the CSA have made are correct, not only that but he has been working for the entire time so the amount of arrears should surely be higher?

I am at a loss as to how to start this process, how I go about trying to reclaim some of these arrears (if at all possible). I have had to struggle as a single mum and he lives a life of total luxury I just want a life for my daughter that she deserves.

He has not been in contact with his daughter whilst he was in the U.K and when he went to Singapore so in total she has had no contact for three nearly four years.

So sorry that this is so long, but as I said I just don't know what to do, or a plan of action for these things...if I'd have known I could have just got a maintenance order here I would have done this a long time ago, when he was still living here.

Any help would be really appreciated.

legalexec

Hi Teletubby123

I have not had an opportunity to use this site much recently however you will note that I posted the last query on here to which I am still awaiting a response. However I am hopeful that I may be able to assist you in the meantime.

I am not familiar with the REMO process as regards Singapore. Did you check that is one of the Countries that has signed up to REMO on the CSA website?

As regards cases that have concluded being talked about on here, some posts I read previously appear to have almost concluded as payment arrangements were in the process of being made on a couple of posts that I have read previously.

As regards whether you can claim arrears of maintenance ordered by the CSA, please see the website of marilynstowe.co.uk which may offer some assistance under the child support overeas parents section, although I am sure there is probably much more succinct information available online however I hope Marilyn Stowe's website will assist you somewhat.

In terms of trying to get started, have you asked your local Court for the set of papers that you will need to complete in order to instigate action to reinstate payments and recover arrears as they are your first port of call.

Good luck with taking this action as although in some cases it can be a drawn out process, it will be worthwhile in the end when your daughter receives what she is entitled to, and you are finally able to stop worrying about having to chase your ex for money.

legalexec

4m1n4 wrote: »

Legalexec - You don't need to have been married to apply for Ancilliary relief. With ancilliary relief they take into account all the child's costs - they use the CSA formula as a starting point but they don't have to stick to it and there are top ups for private schools amongst other things. Even if you have gone through the CSA you can ask for a top up for school fees via the ancilliary relief process. The only problem with the US system is that they also take your income into consideration whereas here it is all dependent on the Non-resident parent's income and the actual costs to the child. If you ask for a carer's allowance, then your income will be taken into consideration, but otherwise whilst you have to give a statement of your affairs, the judge is only concerned with the NRP.

Anyway my order is now in place and I have had one small payment...far from the full amount but at least something.

I just wondered whether you still blog on here or check the new posts as I have been looking out for your posts. I noted that you said your payments have now started via REMO and I wondered how you are getting on because it is nice to see when somebody on here has successfully navigated the system.:T