REMO-Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Order

legalexec

kimi31 wrote: »

Micro did you try talking r e a l l y slowly and put on a bit of american twang?? lol I find that always works...

I looked at my paper work and REMO rec'd the last letter from FLorida on 18/1....Liverpool got site of it in MARCH! !!!!!! is that about?
I made this concern known to Florida especially if they want me to dial into the hearing and they send written notice and London dont do anything....

Not had my callback yet. I am still hopeful

Hi Kimi31,

I have been looking out for your posts to see how you are getting on but I have not seen any recent posts from you. Has your case now been dealt with in Florida and did you dial into the hearing? It would be nice to hear if you have successfully navigated the REMO system as it gives hope to those just starting out or still wading their way through.

I do hope all is well and that things are progressing more quickly and more smoothly for you than my case seems to be progressing at the moment.

legalexec

mico62 wrote: »

update - i've just received a revised income withholding writ which now includes a monthly amount for outstanding arrears.

2 questions

1. The amount of arrears including interest is a lot more than what's stated on the REMO order signed by the judge here and I've notified the OAG of what he owes - should I query it or are the interest rates that high? and

2 Does anyone get their maintenance on a state debit card and if so is it accepted in shops or can you only withdraw from cash machines - I keep receiving letters saying I must sign up to the scheme unless I can prove financial hardship.

Thanks for your posts they are very very helpful for those of us still navigating the system. Very well done and I hope that everything is going smoothly for you now. :T

Just one question, what way did you work out was the best way for you to receive your payments in the end in terms of keeping your costs down? I am also wondering whether we should ask for these deductions to be taken into account when the Judge is awarding the Child Support Order. :beer:

legalexec

AnxiousMum wrote: »

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.

Hi AnxiousMum

It is really nice to see your posts which give so much useful advice to those posting and those reading the posts as well.

Am I right in that your case has been dealt with and are your payment arrangements now progressing smoothly through REMO and was your case dealt with in the Courts in Canada as you appear to be an expert on that area particularly?

I just want to say thank you because your posts are very very helpful. :A

melbarnes

Just to update anyone looking to enforce abroad, new EU Maintenance Regulations came in June 2011 so for EU countries, the process is much simpler. These will also apply to CSA arrears (not ongoing cases) so in summary:
1. CSA arrears owed to Sec of State can be enforced by the CSA directly through REMO
2. CSA arrears owed to the PWC need to be enforced through REMO (so go to local Magistrates)
3. REMO is now a Central Authority under new Regs so have more duties and responsibilities. This means they have expanded and should be able to deal with applications much more proactively.
3. New regulations are now being brought in which deal with foreign income where the CSA retains jurisdiction BUT only those where HMRC is aware of the income (so for Singapore, this will probably not be possible)
4. The new Hague Convention on child maintenance should ratified by the EU in 2012 so regulations here should bring in a new procedure for countries outside of the EU also in 2013.

If trying to enforce from abroad, I would suggest that you try and keep in contact with the UK Mags dealing with enforcement as otherwise, all requests for information or documentation will need to come back to your Central Authority and this ultimately causes delay.

Hope this helps.
Melanie

melbarnes

scaredbird wrote: »

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

I would suggest you write to the CSA and request your data protection file for £10 under the Data Protection Act so that you can consider whether there was any maladministration. If you have problems dealing with any appeal (which you will need to do within a month of the decision) then I suggest you contact NACSA as they are experts in this area of law.

melbarnes

teletubby123 wrote: »

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.

Unfortunately, for Singapore the CSA arrears cannot be enforced but you will be able to make an application through your local Magistrates' Court for a provisional order. The legal advisor there will be able to assist you with any necessary forms and any order can be processed through REMO under the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1972 Act. The previous arrears and calculations can be used as evidence of liability, and the information you have found on the internet will also be useful so these should be provided to the court.
Good luck!

AnxiousMum

When you apply for your order, make sure that you do have the arrears noted in there. The courts in Singapore MAY enforce the arrears against property owned there - I don't know. I do know though that other countries, like Canada for example WILL enforce arrears.

mico62

legalexec wrote: »

Thanks for your posts they are very very helpful for those of us still navigating the system. Very well done and I hope that everything is going smoothly for you now. :T

Just one question, what way did you work out was the best way for you to receive your payments in the end in terms of keeping your costs down? I am also wondering whether we should ask for these deductions to be taken into account when the Judge is awarding the Child Support Order. :beer:

I've got an agreement with my branch that they'll only charge me £10.50 no matter how many cheques I pay in up to a max of $5000 - the wording on their website was very ambiguous, another branch nearer to where I work charged me £10.50 per cheque.

I can't fault the staff at the Texas OAGs office (well those who can understand me) and they're great at replying to emails. Cheques have started to arrive again after a 5 week blip but they're a bit erratic and I'm missing 2 payments - not sure if he's changed jobs or if his employer is paying him in cash - they did that when he first went to work for them.

Good luck with your claim x

AnxiousMum

I had it written into my order that I would pay up to $15.00 per transaction in bank fees from his end, and then I would be rsponsible for the fees from my bank (£7.00). I agreed to this though, as I was the one who moved away, and the reason why these charges are payable. This did put a stop to him deducting off things like $45.00 charges if sending postal orders etc., and a higher exchange rate etc. So in the long run, did benefit from having that in the agreement.

Since going enforcement stage though, I get a cheque from the Provincial Government - they cannot do international bank transfers due to the costs, as they would then get dinged the charges.

legalexec

mico62 wrote: »

I've got an agreement with my branch that they'll only charge me £10.50 no matter how many cheques I pay in up to a max of $5000 - the wording on their website was very ambiguous, another branch nearer to where I work charged me £10.50 per cheque.

I can't fault the staff at the Texas OAGs office (well those who can understand me) and they're great at replying to emails. Cheques have started to arrive again after a 5 week blip but they're a bit erratic and I'm missing 2 payments - not sure if he's changed jobs or if his employer is paying him in cash - they did that when he first went to work for them.

Good luck with your claim x

That is good news about the Bank charges. I used to bank with Natwest who definitely charged more than £10 per transaction for each voluntary payment my ex made which I received by Bank transfer. I should still have some Bank Statements available which will show those charges if I do decide to ask the Court to take those charges into account when calculating the level of payment.

I am sorry to hear that your payments are erratic as it is difficult to plan your finances when you cannot rely on regular payments. Is it possible for you to request that payments are made from the Child Support department directly to you via Bank transfer?

I am hoping to find out more about how payments will be made in my case as I am hopeful that they will definitely be made by Bank transfer. I was previously advised that payments will be deducted direct from my ex's salary by the Department of Child Support Services, and the monies will be sent to the Official Solicitor's office here who deal with the collection of maintenance payments and they will forward the payments on to me. However, I need to check what charges will be deducted during that process.

Thanks again for your advice and well wishes and I wish you all the best too.