maintenance when he works abroad

annm06

My ex and i had a agreement for him to pay maintenance of £500 a month which was fine until Nov 09 when he decided he could no longer afford to pay. I went to CSA who could not do anything as he works in Libya for a company based in Houston. He resides in the UK. he works away on a pattern of 5 weeks away 5 at home. He does not pay any Uk tax.
I went to solicitor who sent a sheriff officer to collect arrears (we live in scotland) but he does not own any property and says he has no uk accounts so got no where with that. He has now said he will pay £350 a month instead and i recieved one payment in April but nothing this month so far. I don't want to agree with this as he is not paying back what he owed and i know he makes a lot more money than he makes out. A remo agreement wont work in Libya but he is supposed to be going to work in Tunisia soon to work but still for company based in Houston. Where should I go from here? I seem to be getting no where. should i report him for tax evasion? I only want to reach some kind of agreement i have tried being civil with him but he lies about everything!! thanks sorry if information seems little muddled

Honest_broker07

IF he works in Libya or most other places outside the UK and only comes to the UK for a few weeks a year he isn't liable for tax here.

I feel he knows the rules and will continue to work in countries where no REMO exists, because he can.

annm06

I think he does know the rules!!
He works 5 works away and stays in uk for 5 weeks on rotation. Tunisia had a remo agreement but not sure if it is enforceable if he is employed by company based in houston. its all so confusing shame he cant just come to some sort of agreement for kids sake.

Caz3121

Do you suspect he is working in Tunisia instead of Libya?

Kimitatsu

If he is working for a company based in Houston have you tried applying the REMO to the states instead as you could argue that is where his pay office is based?

Have you tried to contact the CSA and ask them to confirm with HMRC that he has no UK accounts at all? You could still open a case with the CSA even though he is only here for half of the time, because you and your child are resident here. They probably will tell you they cannot enforce the assessment BUT you could get them to confirm what he has told you.

AnxiousMum

I would've thought that as he is working for an American company, and payroll is done in America, you need an agreement through REMO that is enforcable in the United States - reason being is that any garnishee of earnings would need to be enforced in the states where his payroll is done.

PlayingHardball

Hi Ann, I have an ex who left the UK almost 2 years ago and took this as his golden opportunity to stop paying child support. Because he could!

Initially the CSA assured me that because he owned property in the UK, they had jurisdiction and case was remaining open with arrears accruing. 9 months later they changed their mind and told me they didn't actually have jurisdiction and would close the case back dated to when he left the country, I appealed the decision and am waiting for a tribunal date to see if he can be deemed habitually resident in the UK. If so, the CSA will regain jursidiction, but he'll still have a nil assessment. What I wish I knew 2 years ago, is that I should have put in a variation application to the CSA. I have done this now so should the tribunal overturn the CSA's decision to close the case, then he will only have to pay from the time of my variation application. (Mind you, this is all so complicated, I don't know what will come of it all, if anything)

But, in my own appeal bundle from the CSA, in their own wording they state the following criteria for being Habitually Resident and thereby in their jurisdiction:

People likely to be habitually resident are:
A person working in another country who frequently returns to the UK (especially if he/she always keeps a home here)
A person who has always lived in the UK until going abroad to work and who is likely to come back to this country.
So, this is surely relevant to you also. As my ex owns property in the UK, and frequently visits the UK, according to their own 'definition', he IS habitually resident. How frustrating.
My experience is that the CSA get their knickers in a twist when it comes to making decisions based on law (which this is)
Sorry this is long winded, and I'm hoping some of it helps you.
Kim is correct and the CSA will propably tell you its not in their jursidiction, but you CAN appeal that based on the fact he lives here 1/2 of the year.
I'm also going through REMO (leaving NO stone unturned, rotweiller-me! lol ) And that is going very slow as I don't have a UK court order and can't get one, as it wasn't part of the final divorce (because the solicitor advised me against it, saying that his earnings were likely to increase so would be better going through CSA. Shame, as a court order would have helped the REMO business, but even then, not all countrys are great at enforcing REMOS. I believe Canada and the US are excellent at enforcement, though.
So, what I'm saying is that perhaps you should consider doing the following:
REMO application for where he works - US (contact REMO office in London or your local magistrate court to see if this is correct)
Apply for CSA, knowing they'll say its 'not in their jurisdiction', but don't tell them you know that.
Apply then for a variation application.
The above puts what I've done in a nutshell - whether I get anywhere is another thing but I am confident I've done all I can to try and get some support for my daughter, who will be moving to further education in a couple years and will need it!
Your other option is to send him a very nicely worded letter, tell him about your options of enforcing child support through the CSA (very long battle but possible) and REMO (possible). Ask him does he really want to deprive his children, and suggest he continues with the agreed £500. I personally would offer to forget the arrears if he would agree to stick with this without fail.
One final question, do you have a Scottish court order for maintenance, or where did you arrive at the £500?
Sorry for the length of this post!

annm06

thanks for your reply playinghardball.
It is all so complicated!! i have a minute of agreement for the £500 a month this was an amount we both agreed on.
The REMO thing will probably not work as he does not reside in Tunisia only works there and the company is based in Houston but he does not work there, i have seen a solicitor and they seen to think this option is a no go!!
I phoned the law dept of Scottish executive yesterday and they seen to think that if he does not pay and has no assets in this country they may be able to get civil imprisonment for non payment!! so we will wait and see what happens. wish he would grow up and pay for his kids so not fair on them

Kimitatsu

annm06 wrote: »

thanks for your reply playinghardball.
It is all so complicated!! i have a minute of agreement for the £500 a month this was an amount we both agreed on.
The REMO thing will probably not work as he does not reside in Tunisia only works there and the company is based in Houston but he does not work there, i have seen a solicitor and they seen to think this option is a no go!!
I phoned the law dept of Scottish executive yesterday and they seen to think that if he does not pay and has no assets in this country they may be able to get civil imprisonment for non payment!! so we will wait and see what happens. wish he would grow up and pay for his kids so not fair on them

You need to get a second opinion about enforcing the REMO agreement. As I understand it as long as the company has a registered pay office in that country then the agreement can be enforced.......when we were looking at the possibility of being posted abroad we looked into the CSA enforcement so that we would not build up arrears, and the ruling is as long as there is a pay office registered in that country then the agreement could be enforced.

You may also be able to argue that as he has been paying then that forms the basis of a private agreement and so should continue to be enforced.

Try not to get too stressed about it, at least you seem to be getting some support from other organisations

PlayingHardball

Well done annm06 - I agree with Kim, keep going and don't give up, you have nothing to lose.