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

AnxiousMum

Hi there - My ex is also in canada, and child maintenance for our two children is VERY enforceable!
I went to the local Magistrates court, paid my £180 fee (if you are on low income, this may be waived) and the court here then acts on behalf of you in Canada basically! They will send your ex a copy of your papers submitted, and you will be given a hearing date here in your local Magistrates Court. They will then make a 'proposal' order - which they then forward to the local Provincial Court in Canada. Once approved by the Provincial Court (and they DO take child support seriously) the order is then enforcable in Canada. You may want to register your court order with the Maintenance Enforcement office - usually found in the capital city of whichever province he is living in. They will chase up any arrears etc., but it pays to register your order with them to begin with if you expect any hassles later on.

If he is not working - the court in my case, basically told him he couldn't afford to not be earning money as he had done in the past, and imputed an income on him based in line with his last 3 years of working history. (They did this because the years we were together his income from self employment ranged between $80-120K per year, and then went down to $9K and then £3.5K per year when child support was an issue). The court based his income to pay child support on as an average income of his last 3 years income - unless he could of course prove that he was unable to work for whatever reason.

You are much better off having him in Canada in terms of enforceent of the order than even here in the UK. Canada will have no hesitation in clawing back tax returns (everybody does a tax return every year), confiscating his passport (no travel back to UK to see family) etc. should he ignore their order.

Get your application in immediately if you can - Canadian courts will backdate your order until the day you applied here in the UK.

My ex and I have our agreement based on Canadian law as well - ie using the Canadian Child Support Guidelines for the province of British Columbia - makes it easier for you in enforcement, and also in getting the Canadian court to agree with your wishes. If you know his income, then you can figure out from those tables what will be ordered.
You may want to try and get it further backdated due to the fact you've not been given the right direction from CSA - they should've known better than to fob you off and not inform you of REMO. Oh, in Canada, it's an 'inter jurisdictional order'.

Oldernotwiser

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

He may well have problems applying for permanent residency if he's wanted by police for fraud in the UK!

PlayingHardball

Great info Anxious Mum! My ex had to decide on 2 job offers, one in Germany and one in Canada (he was made redundant in the UK)

Now I wish he'd gone to Canada! We are both Canadian. I've had a very long uphill struggle trying to get Child support and to be honest have almost given up hope of achieving anything. It is only my feelings of 'right and wrong' that have made me persist, and if nothing else than to ensure he feels some stress from his selfish actions.

REMO is making contact and things are finally under way (I know because he has threatened me and called me the usual (bitter, twisted, etc) via a nasty email recently). Its all a 'to and fro' scenario, with each delay costing the support for my child.

These fathers should be so ashamed of themselves.

Anyway, great advise and I'll keep this all in mind should ex ever move to Canada. Sounds like the Canadians have got it right (child support)

AnxiousMum

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

He may well have problems applying for permanent residency if he's wanted by police for fraud in the UK!

If he doesn't already have his PR, he is very likely working under the table....as working permits in Canada are not very commonplace! If there is a warant for his arrest, he will not get PR in Canada. If the 'crime' and the extent of it would warrant jail time in Canada, but not here, he also wouldn't get PR. I know someone here who is here with his Canadian wife because he had a Drunk Driving charge here, he was refused entry to Canada based on that!

worrypants

As part of the PR application process he will require written proof from the csa ( or from the other parent if no csa)that all child support is up to date and not in arrears and has to provide evidence that support will continue to be paid until 18 th birthday .

PR will not granted without this proof and evidence.

he will have to make a sworn statement in front of a notary about this

he MUST include the children in his pplication even if he is not taking them if he doesnt then is PR will never be legal and if ever found out even if 20 years down the line he will lose PR and be deported

AnxiousMum

worrypants wrote: »

As part of the PR application process he will require written proof from the csa ( or from the other parent if no csa)that all child support is up to date and not in arrears and has to provide evidence that support will continue to be paid until 18 th birthday .

The age actually depends on the province that the NRP is living in. In our case the NRP is in BC.....and child support is in situ until the youngest is 19 - as that is the 'legal' age in BC.

worrypants

AnxiousMum wrote: »

The age actually depends on the province that the NRP is living in. In our case the NRP is in BC.....and child support is in situ until the youngest is 19 - as that is the 'legal' age in BC.

sorry yes i should have pointed out that each canadian province is like a seperate country with different laws etc most are 18 some are 19

also if he is only on a temp work permit its very possible he wont get PR what is his occupation this will give a clue on likelyhood of PR . Otherwise he will be out of Canada when temp work permit expires.

We are very very particular who we allow to become PR in canada!! the rules get tighter by the minute with very much canadian jobs for canadians in the current economic climate more than ever.

XxmissashleighXx

Hi well i contacted my local Magistrates Court which is Sunderland and i then got passed onto the REMO office so i phoned them and they said that i need to get a REMO from my local Magistrates Courts so i then phoned them back and told them that i got told i have to contact them about getting a REMO and they said that they dont do them so am still no further ahead so am not sure what to do next i think i would have to get in touch with a solicitor.
Thanks in advance for help. Ashleigh

PlayingHardball

The Sunderland Magistrate Court is wrong, and you need to insist that you speak to someone in the family law section of their court office. Whoever you spoke to obviously doesn't know this area of law.

I would call or visit them personally, they are causing you silly delays.