C.S.A says my ex partrner does not have to pay child maintenence. Help please

XxmissashleighXx

Hi there i have a month old child and my ex partner ran off to canada right at the beginning of pregnancy. I later found out that he is wanted for fraud and i have heard nothing from police yet saying they have found him even thouugh i know where he is. C.S.A phoned me today regarding child maintenence and said that because he is not working for a british company he does not have to pay anything towards his child ! As u can imagine i was shocked by this and still cant beleive he is getting away with this. Can u tell me if this is correct and if there is a way around this so he does have to pay for his daughter. If this is the case every guy who does not want a child can run away to another country and not pay a thing towards there child. surely this is not right. thanks in advance for help. ashleigh.

DX2

Canada (not Quebec) is on the remo list. Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders or REMO is the process by which maintenance orders made by UK courts on behalf of UK residents can be registered and enforced by courts or other authorities in other countries against people resident there.
This is a reciprocal arrangement governed by international conventions, which means that foreign maintenance orders in favour of individuals abroad can likewise be registered and enforced by UK courts against UK residents. The precise nature of reciprocity available between the UK and another jurisdiction depends on the convention or agreement to which the other country is a signatory.

How to apply

A UK resident who wishes to apply to obtain maintenance from a person overseas should approach

• their local magistrates' court (or county court where the order was made) if they have an existing court order for maintenance; or
• their local magistrates' court if there is no existing order

They may apply for their order to be enforced in the country where the payer resides. Procedures also exist to enable an applicant to ask the foreign authorities to create an order for maintenance on their behalf. There is no need for the applicant to engage a solicitor. Court staff will help the applicant and will forward the application to the relevant authority. The authority will check that the application is in order and send it to the foreign authority or court for registration and enforcement against the person living there.
http://www.csa.gov.uk/en/case/remo.asp#jump-c

sammyjammy

I'm afraid it is correct, if the non resident parent resides habitually abroad then CMEC (what was the CSA) do not get involved in collect maintenance, if he were to come back to this country to live he would receive a big bill for backdated maintenance though.

Not what you want to hear, I know, if you have any other questions its probably best to post them on the Child Support sub board, there will be people more expert than me.

ETA I see the post above me implies differently, would that be a case where the non resident parent moves abroad after a court has made an order?

I think you probably need professional advice.

sammyjammy

More info, these are the situations they can still get maintenance where someone lives aborad

• When the non-resident parent works for a UK based company abroad.
• When the non-resident parent is a civil servant or works within Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service or Her Majesty’s Overseas Civil Service.
• When the non-resident parent is a member of the armed forces.
• When the non-resident parent works abroad on a secondment for a prescribed body such as a NHS trust or a local authority.

alwaysonthego_2

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XxmissashleighXx

Thanks for responses. So in the the first reply u are saying if i go to court i could get him to pay ? I honestly could not afford court costs. Hiya sammy u say it is correct so that is not good I think it is ridiculous that this is the law but i guess if that is the law nothing can be done. I dont think he will be back cos he is applying for permanant recidency in canada

DX2

XxmissashleighXx wrote: »

Thanks for responses. So in the the first reply u are saying if i go to court i could get him to pay ? I honestly could not afford court costs. Hiya sammy u say it is correct so that is not good I think it is ridiculous that this is the law but i guess if that is the law nothing can be done. I dont think he will be back cos he is applying for permanant recidency in canada

Might be worth actually finding out the costs before you dismiss it straight away small outlay v csa for 18 years.

XxmissashleighXx

DX2 wrote: »

Might be worth actually finding out the costs before you dismiss it straight away small outlay v csa for 18 years.

where would i find out costs ?

m_13

Any chance he's in Alberta? They've passed an ISO Act (http://www.justice.gov.ab.ca/mep/lawyers_guide.aspx?id=2904)

The ISO Act eliminates the two-step provisional order/confirmation hearing process in most cases. Matters are decided by one court hearing held in the respondent's jurisdiction.
Unless the respondent lives in a jurisdiction that is not a reciprocating jurisdiction or that requires a provisional order, there is no court hearing in the applicant's jurisdiction. An applicant in Alberta instead completes a support application (or a support variation application) and files it with the Alberta courts. The sworn application is then forwarded to the respondent's jurisdiction for a determination.
Where the respondent resides in Alberta and the claimant does not, the Alberta courts receive the claimant's support application package from another jurisdiction and schedule a hearing. The Alberta court will hear and decide the matter, relying on the claimant's sworn support application and any viva voce or affidavit evidence presented by the respondent.
The ISO Act provides a clear and consistent approach to choice of law. These provisions increase the likelihood of entitlement to maintenance. Additionally, appeal periods are increased under ISO to 90 days (from 75 days) for the appellant, and to 30 days (from 15) for the respondent.

So you would complete a 'sworn support application' and send it to the court and they hearing would take place there without you. The maintenance order issued in the UK would then be presented and if found to be valid then the maintenance order would be upheld.

In order to begin this process, the parent with care of the children should either apply to the magistrates’ court to register an already existing order abroad, or apply to the magistrates’ court to make an order for maintenance to be registered abroad. The order then effectively becomes an order of that foreign country and is, therefore, governed by the law of that country.

NACSA provide support and guidance with the CSA for a subscription of £45 per year (£50 from 1st November 2009). They seem really highly thought of, particularly on MSE. They offer free general support via email so it might be worth contacting them on [EMAIL="enquiries@nacsa.co.uk"]enquiries@nacsa.co.uk[/EMAIL] to see if they can help before they join.

I'm guessing that you have no proof that he is the father (DNA test etc)? Is he denying the child is his or just refusing to pay? Is there a likelihood that they are going to pursue him for fraud?

PlayingHardball

sammyjammy wrote: »

I'm afraid it is correct, if the non resident parent resides habitually abroad then CMEC (what was the CSA) do not get involved in collect maintenance, if he were to come back to this country to live he would receive a big bill for backdated maintenance though.

Not what you want to hear, I know, if you have any other questions its probably best to post them on the Child Support sub board, there will be people more expert than me.

ETA I see the post above me implies differently, would that be a case where the non resident parent moves abroad after a court has made an order?

I think you probably need professional advice.

Hello Original Poster
I'd like to comment and try to shed some light on your situation as I'm in a similar situation (ex moved to another country)

Sammy is very helpful in his/her advise but I need to point out a huge error in the above comment. Unfortunately your ex will NOT be responsible for the huge backdated child maintenance. This is because your ex has made a permanent move to Canada, and also the very fact that you INFORMED the CSA (if you hadn't informed them, and he eventually came back, he would have had to pay the backdated figure, as long as he himself didn't inform them) That is a cruel fact, I found out the hard way (I too did just what you have done to be told the same by the CSA)

What you must do very urgently is to contact your local Magistrates Court and tell them you would like to apply for a REMO and they will send you the application. Fill it in and send it back. Once this is done, you will receive a court date where you will go along and swear before a judge and his/her representatives that your information is accurate. Your application for a court order (REMO) will then be forwarded to the London REMO office where it will be forwarded to the correct authority in Canada - all in all a very easy process for you (trust me, I've done this) If you apply now, you'll have your court hearing within 8 weeks I would guess.

The good news is that applying for a Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Order to enforce your ex to support your child will not cost you a penny.

You do not have to have a UK order already in place to apply for REMO., REMO does this for you. you will eventually get a Canadian Court order which will be according to their child maintenance rules and laws. I don't know what they are, even though I'm Canadian myself!

You are ahead of the game because you can provide them with an address for him. My REMO application was delayed by 3 months until my ex finally told one of my children his address!

A mistake I made was not following up the Magistrates Court and REMO London office to make sure they were doing their jobs correctly and that resulted in another 4 month delay for me. (My Order was sent from the Magistrate court to London but not received until 4 months later and nobody will claim responsibility for the delay, it 'just happened') So, for me that is 4 months delay in receiving help for my child! But hey, ho, avoid that yourself. Keep calling, keep chasing, ask for it in writing. (Both offices, London and your court)

One thing I would say is be prepared for a long wait. I don't know how long, as my situation is not yet resolved, but I think it could even be a year, 2 years? Nobody can say for sure. The sooner you apply, the sooner it will happen. I have had a response now from the other country where my ex lives and that has taken 11 months (but it would have been 7 months had my application not been floating in air somewhere for 4 months)

Best of luck! Hope this information helps clarify some of the questions you asked.

PlayingHardball

Oh, one more thing. I agree with the OP, this is ridulous that non-resident parents can do this! Luckily tho, for us that the Hague convention passed REMO, it is our only hope. I do believe Canada will enforce his responsibility, so in a way you are lucky he has gone there and not somewhere like Spain or Greece, where things are not so positive for enforcement.