REMO-Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Order

modernist_blue

Hello, I'm new on here and just about to start REMO. I must say I hoped I'd find a page with success stories on how well this system has worked for them. Reading all your posts makes the whole procedure seem very daunting.

I plan to call the REMO offices tomorrow and ask advice, then work out which court papers I need to submit and how. I'd love any advice any of you can give on do's and don'ts. My situation: NRP was assessed by CSA in 2006 and paid maintenance (very grudgingly) until he moved to Singapore in Dec 2008. I didn't realise there was a reciprocal arrangement till recently (distracted by paying my child's school fees, my parents dying and me on chemo). My daughter is now 8. I'm on medical leave and frankly it's time he put his hand in his pocket.

So I am at the beginning of my journey. Any advice would be gratefully received. Things I am confused about or unsure of after reading through most of these threads: whether I need a judgment at County Court or Magistrates Court (why?); there seems to be some consensus that you should put everything in writing; REMO is just some glorified post box - I need to get the right paperwork recognised and signed off here and then wait for it to arrive at the Singapore courts? I note a couple of posts above this, that others are dealing with Singapore - how is it going?

I know I have a lot of questions but please be nice to the newbie. : )

HelpfulGuy

First thing to say is expect it to take a long time. The process can be very slow especially with Far east / SE Asian countries. That doesn't mean nothing's happening, it's just how it is with a lot of international postboxes involved. Second thing is don't expect any legal help from the REMO unit in London. They are just a transmitting and receiving service and can't give you legal advice.

Singapore is a reciprocating country meaning that orders can be made under the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1972. The process involves you applying to your local family court for a provisional order. At this stage your ex is not involved. You apply for a sum of money and give the court what info you can about your ex's financial standing, if known, as well as your own situation. The family court will then make a provisional order (or could refuse to do so but no reason why they would unless paternity is in issue). That order is then sent to Singapore via REMO for a court over there to consider and they will either confirm, modify, or reject it having summoned your ex to give his side of the tale. This will be the first time your ex knows what you are doing, hence the order having to be provisional. Assuming Singapore confirms an order they will then collect money from him and send it to you, possibly direct or possibly via the UK court. It may be your ex raises arguments which the Singapore court need to refer back to the UK for clarification so you may have to go back to court to answer on oath any questions the other country raises. You can see how it can take ages. Once a decision is ultimately made it can be an effective system, you just have to anticipate delaying tactics.

Staff at your local family court can help you with the procedure and forms. There are no court fees to pay. You could ask a solicitor for help but shouldn't need one, and there is no legal aid available for this kind of thing.

2 things to remember are that until a provisional order is confirmed it has no legal status, and if your ex were to leave Singapore you'd have to chase him to some other country where different procedures might apply.

Be realistic, but persistent. Good luck.

BrandonsMum

Hi all,

I just had a whopping read through all twenty pages doing some research for myself and felt it would be rude of me to read and run, so I will share my experience.

Like many of you, I am chasing maintenance for the benefit of my son from my ex. Only my case slightly differs from yourselves.

I lived with my ex in the UK for three years, during that time I fell pregnant. My ex was not onboard whatsoever and so with his consent I moved back to my home, Gibraltar. My son was born in February 2013 and do date I am yet to receive a single penny from his father (who might I add has made no effort to visit or contact him, not even a Christmas card).

I went through the local courts and got a full maintenance order, backdated to August 2013 which is when I filed my application initially. Two hearings later and a full order was granted and I was awarded maintenance of £260 per month plus arrears owed dating back to August 2013. However, this has never been forthcoming.

Gibraltar recently signed up to REMO - woohoo! Great news for me! And so my case was forwarded on by our courts in August 2014. As far as I am aware there has been a hearing on 23 February and another due on 29 May.

As there is such a variance of experiences on this thread maybe someone has been in a similar situation to me and can tell me what the process is like when getting an order enforced from abroad in UK? Why would there be two further court hearings when we already went through two in my local courts (He was present via telephone) and the full order was granted? I also thought I would need to be present for hearing in UK?

Any sort of advice/steps would be great. I have been in contact with our local courts on numerous of occassions who are never forthcoming with any update, and so although frowned upon, I Have taken it upon myself to contact the REMO Office directly in hopes that they could shed some light on what is actually going on.

Thank you

BrandonsMum

Ali781

Just posting a quick update on my case with Remo and Australia.
I first went to court April 2014 to ask for my case to be sent to Remo, it was at first rejected due to some missing paperwork. I returned to court and we redone all paperwork and added the missing information July 2014. Case was sent to Australian Csa. Managed to get a log on for Australian Csa so I could communicate online with them direct. I emailed for updates every few weeks. They did contact ex who agreed a payment plan with them but he never paid and then moved house. They called me this morning to say that they spoke to him a few weeks ago and the first payment has been received by them yesterday. They told me that they have warned him that if he fails to pay once more they will take enforcement action straight away with no warning letter or call. Seems they are more strict than the English Csa are. He told me that I will not receive it for about a month as he is paying weekly and they pay me monthly. I will just add that this is over £14,000 he owes my children in arrears and not a current assessment.
Please hang in there everyone and keep at it, Remo can work! I just hope it continues.

HelpfulGuy

BrandonsMum wrote: »

Hi all,

I just had a whopping read through all twenty pages doing some research for myself and felt it would be rude of me to read and run, so I will share my experience.

Like many of you, I am chasing maintenance for the benefit of my son from my ex. Only my case slightly differs from yourselves.

I lived with my ex in the UK for three years, during that time I fell pregnant. My ex was not onboard whatsoever and so with his consent I moved back to my home, Gibraltar. My son was born in February 2013 and do date I am yet to receive a single penny from his father (who might I add has made no effort to visit or contact him, not even a Christmas card).

I went through the local courts and got a full maintenance order, backdated to August 2013 which is when I filed my application initially. Two hearings later and a full order was granted and I was awarded maintenance of £260 per month plus arrears owed dating back to August 2013. However, this has never been forthcoming.

Gibraltar recently signed up to REMO - woohoo! Great news for me! And so my case was forwarded on by our courts in August 2014. As far as I am aware there has been a hearing on 23 February and another due on 29 May.

As there is such a variance of experiences on this thread maybe someone has been in a similar situation to me and can tell me what the process is like when getting an order enforced from abroad in UK? Why would there be two further court hearings when we already went through two in my local courts (He was present via telephone) and the full order was granted? I also thought I would need to be present for hearing in UK?

Any sort of advice/steps would be great. I have been in contact with our local courts on numerous of occassions who are never forthcoming with any update, and so although frowned upon, I Have taken it upon myself to contact the REMO Office directly in hopes that they could shed some light on what is actually going on.

Thank you

BrandonsMum

If you got a full order in Gibraltar then the UK court will be holding hearings for registration and enforcement. Only the court can tell you why they need a second hearing but every chance it is down to delaying tactics by the payer, For example, maybe he never showed up for the first hearing.

knightley

Hi. I'm about to embark on the REMO process as well. The father of my child has moved to Canada several months ago and is threatening not to pay child support. He has not stopped paying yet but he is paying a lower amount than he should pay (according to both UK and Canadian guidelines).

I have contacted my local magistrates court by email and was redirected to the London REMO team - also via email. They have now sent me all the forms to fill out - to apply for a provisional court order here, which will be then sent to Canada. I'm planning to send the forms over the next couple of weeks, it takes a while to compile all information that they want (full financial disclosure for myself - income and expenses, etc).

I will be posting updates here. This thread deserves to be updated, it has so much information and I'm hoping some old users are still active in case I have questions!

Good luck to everyone who is still going through the process.

daska

I'm about to embark on this process as well. I beg your indulgence because a brain aneurysm last year means I struggle to concentrate. I read through the entire thread back in August but feel none the wiser.

I'm in UK, dad's in France. I don't yet have his permanent address because they're still in the process of buying.

It's a County Court order that lasts for as long as our son is in full time education.

Can someone help me through what I need to do in baby steps. I've found the number for my local combined court but there wasn't anyone there who knew what I had to do to move the case to the magistrates court and they told me they think I have to apply to Bury St Edmunds, which is nowhere near where order was issued and even further from where I currently live?!

knightley

@daska: sorry I can't help much, I haven't actually started the process, I keep postponing it. Apparently if the father is in a EU country you need to fill out Form 7 and can contact either the REMO Unit directly OR your local court.

Enforce a child maintenance decision in the EU
Download and fill in form REMO 7 to enforce a maintenance decision made in a court in England or Wales in another EU country.

Send the form and and supporting documents to either:

• your local family court - they’ll forward them to the REMO Unit OR
• the REMO Unit directly

Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders Unit (REMO)
The Official Solicitor's Office
Victory House
30-34 Kingsway
London WC2B 6EX

knightley

PS. Here's the link where you can download the form:

https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance-if-one-parent-lives-abroad/paying-parent-lives-abroad

and the email address and phone for the REMO Unit:

REMO Unit
remo@offsol.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 3681 2757

tiredtracey

After reading these posts I am surprised any of the responsible parents have time for any parenting at all. Follow ups with REMO take time away from our children. The government needs to change legislation.
My ex husband went to Australia . I found out told the CSA they have stopped my payments. I started a tribunal process after my ex husband decided to send me a skype message stating he wanted nothing to do with his daughter until she was 18. I am now without CSA payments whilst I try to chase REMO up to get something done. Apparently there are so many of these iresponsible people that abandon their children REMO is having problems with keeping up. I got a reply saying that it will take 28 days to read and do something about my current plight. I used rent money to pay off this months expenses for my daughter so I am hoping that something gets sorted soon otherwise I will be homeless. They dont seem to realise the gravity of the situation especially the CSA. They just told me it was policy. Well then the policy needs to be changed to better protect the responsible parent. If there are any solicitors or MP's reading these threads change it to make both partners 50% responsible and enforce it. 15% of someones wages does not cut it especially in the UK for living costs. I will let you all know how I get on but after reading your posts I am really upset and not sleeping. My daughter deserves better than the justice she is getting at the moment. I feel like pitching up at his place if I knew what his address was lol !!! and dropping my daughter off and saying here you be the responsible parent from now on and I will just move to a different country and get away with not paying anything just to wake him up. Maybe I should involve the media and do it as a stunt to get this problem noticed once they locate his address. Perhaps then this will change. There is an excellent site called change.org , if any of you are fed up with the situation send a message to your MP and the Prime Minister through t