REMO- Reciprocal enforcement of maintenance order

gutinstinct

HELP!!! can someone please tell me if a remo can be challenged in a uk court? My partner has a child who moved to germany with her english mother and he has always paid an agreed amount of maintenance since he split with his ex. He has always had to fight to keep contact with his child. Her mother has broken a uk contact order and he had to court in germany to get in reinforced. She has yet again broken this court order and refuses to comply. She now has sent solicitors letters and emails to say she is taking him to court in germany for maintenance and using the dusseldorf table as a calculation. She is demanding that he now pays 100% of financial upkeep for his daughter including private health insurance and a huge list of other things, he has offered to pay half the costs but she refuses. Surely she cannot do this? We are not wealthy and have limited funds and a family here in England to support however his ex dosnt consider this to be important. She dosnt work in Germany and lives with a wealthy german businessman. He is continuing to pay maintenance while all this is going on and has tried negotiating with her but she will not see reason. We have done a csa calculation and offered her the amount she would get if she had stayed in the uk but she refuses anything other than what shes demanding. We are worried sick that he wont see his daughter again. If he refuses to pay what the german courts insist and forces her to bring the case to the uk can he challenge it??????

Gigglepig

Maintenance rules/amounts may differ between the UK and Germany, since the child is resident in Germany it makes sense she will be applying under the German rules. If people typically have private health insurance in germany (their healthcare system is not the same as he uk nhs) perhaps it is reasonable that he contributes to it.

Have you done a google search of how the equivalent to the csa works in Germany? And what is normal over there for contact orders? Contact and maintenance are usually two separate things.

gutinstinct

hi Gigglepig, he is willing to contribute towards the private health insurance thats not the problem. His ex is asking for around £500 a month plus an endless list of extras. The figure is totally unrealistic and one of which we cannot afford. His german solicitor said the judge can consider the contact at the same time

anukis

gutinstinct wrote: »

hi Gigglepig, he is willing to contribute towards the private health insurance thats not the problem. His ex is asking for around £500 a month plus an endless list of extras. The figure is totally unrealistic and one of which we cannot afford. His german solicitor said the judge can consider the contact at the same time

It's not about what he feels is affordable or realistic... it's either the UK or the German law, no? I know in Germany the amount also depends on the age of the child...

Roughly in UK it's 15% of net income but it varies. In Germany there's a reference table that can be used, but from what I know it also varies depending on other factors.

http://www.finanztip.de/recht/familie/duesseldorfer-tabelle.htm
(use google translate..)

ValHaller

gutinstinct wrote: »

If he refuses to pay what the german courts insist and forces her to bring the case to the uk can he challenge it??????

Lets get something straight. In sofar as we can, given that I know nothing about International Family Law.

If he refuses to pay what a German Court orders, that will not force her to bring the case to the UK other than as an action for enforcement - which will be a simple hearing to establish that there was a court order in Germany which he is breaching. And there will be no opportunity to re argue the case.

In other words the courts of Germany will think he is the bad boy and the courts of England and Wales will think she is a bad girl and he is a bad boy. So overall, it will be 2-1 to her.

He really requires a good solicitor to establish that the laws and courts of England and Wales are the correct jurisdiction and venue for matters relating to his child.

gutinstinct

thanks! Found out this week that the uk will just reinforce the decision that the german courts make. Unfortunatly for us German law requires the father to pay 100% of everything financial. o now we have the task of putting together a case ourselves and proving that we cannot afford this. The language barrier is a massive problem as we have found with the German solicitor we have. Hopefully the judge will look at the case in great detail and come to the right conclusion for all our sakes. It is going to cost thousands of pounds that we have to find because she has taken it to court, and we will more than likely have to pay her court costs too. It seems that when you try to do the right thing by fighting to see your kids and pay regular maintenance you come off the worst.

SuzieSue

I feel very sorry for the OP and her husband because the rules have suddenly changed as far as they are concerned, however, the German system does seem a lot fairer as it means that the state doesn't pick up the bill as it does here.

singlesaver13

Does anyone have anything positive to say about putting in an application with REMO to be dealt with by the French authorities? I have been advised by a solicitor that I won't need to apply to the UK courts for a section one maintenance order (costly and time consuming)but can submit an application with REMO and the amount will be determined by the French authorities. Basically ex who has refused to ever see DD after walking when I was five months pregnant agreed to pay maintenance in UK then went ballistic when I went to CSA as i wanted it all tied up for peace of mind. Quel surprise turns out he earnt at least double what he told me. Took great pleasure in telling me he was off to france and CSA couldn't touch him. I know for a fact his house in UK has not sold so would presume that will be rented out for an income, his yacht is up for sale and has brought a lovely stonehouse complete with two gites that he is doing up so will presumably be rented out as holiday lets. He says he has taken a job with a french company but refused to disclose his offer contract (why would you if you had nothing to hide) and is playing everything down (given past experience I have a gut feeling something is being deliberately witheld from me) also says he has no idea how much his earnings will be after tax until he receives first pay cheque - why would you take a job without knowing what your net pay is? He also is of the opinion that he can just tell me what his earnings are which I have to accept and it's up to him to decide what a reasonable amount of maintenance should be....I am not trying to take him to the cleaners but would just like to try and negotiate a fair amount based on proven documents showing all earnings/ assets - am I wrong here? I have spoken to a friend in Paris who is making some enquiries on my behalf into the legal system over there I just feel I have been backed into a corner now and will have to start being aggressive in my approach as he obviously under estimates what a mother will do for her child. Silly man. Any advice or experience here? thanks x

Funky_Bold_Ribena

I'd start your own thread if I were you.