REMO when the RP is the one moving abroad

Wasabi74

Hello,

I'm after some advice please. Most of the posts re REMO on here seem to be related to the NRP/paying parent moving abroad, however my case is the opposite; I have recently moved abroad with my two children and the second I have left the UK my ex husband has stopped his child maintenance payments (amount confirmed by CSA after him not paying for months but he's been paying directly to me whilst in the UK for the past three years). He has messaged multiple times in the past few weeks confirming that now that I have 'taken his children away' (I won a lengthy Leave to Remove case at court before I was able to move abroad) he won't be paying a penny moving forward. As I understand it legally he is not obliged to continue paying the amount dictated by CSA but I can claim child maintenance via REMO.

My question are... is REMO7 the form I need to complete and mail over to the court in the UK? Is the process likely to be as lengthy as if he was the one living abroad, taking into account that CSA has all the details already and access to his tax records etc as well as his UK address etc or it being REMO involved will it likely take months too? I'm currently living in Spain if it makes any difference... And, will the order will be the same one that CSA has in place with regards to the amount or will the Spanish courts issue a new one with new amounts? (child maintenance amounts in Spain are significantly higher and could be advantageous to have a new order drafted here if possible...)

Thank you in advance.

Guest101

I'm confused, what arrangement have you made for the children to have contact with their father?

HoneyNutLoop

The CSA will have nothing to do with your REMO case - they only have jurisdiction if both parents are habitually resident in the UK. However, if you are still owed arrears from your closed CSA case, you can still ask them to pursue collection/enforcement of them.

This is a link to the gov.uk page on REMO where the receiving parent lives abroad:
https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance-if-one-parent-lives-abroad/paying-parent-lives-in-the-uk

Hopefully it will point you in the right direction. However, the starting point is that you will need a current child maintenance decision/court order. Your CSA calculation will not count, because your case will close from the date you ceased to be habitually resident in the UK.

Wasabi74

Thank you HoneyNut. I do not have a court order per se when it comes to child maintenance though, CSA just calculated the amounts and informed both of us via letter. He then paid (sometimes) directly into my account. So I'm not entirely sure whether I would be able to approach the UK courts for this or if I should go to REMO in Spain directly....

MataNui

Its likely to be a long process. You will need to go through the UK courts. There is no point whatsoever in you going via the courts in Spain. Your ex is not Spanish nor is he, or ever has been a Spanish resident (as far as you have posted anyway). It would be next to impossible to enforce anything they might do even if they bothered.

Wasabi74

Thank you. I'll start contacting the UK courts for guidance, thank you.

unforeseen

Unless I'm misunderstanding things, with the PWC and child living in Spain, they will need to get a Spanish maintenance order and can then use the REMO process to enforce in the UK.

I don't believe that the UK courts have jurisdiction to create an order for a child not resident in the UK

Wasabi74

unforeseen wrote: »

Unless I'm misunderstanding things, with the PWC and child living in Spain, they will need to get a Spanish maintenance order and can then use the REMO process to enforce in the UK.

I don't believe that the UK courts have jurisdiction to create an order for a child not resident in the UK

Thank you. You are correct in that the children and myself, the resident parent we live abroad, and the paying parent in the UK and yes, it does definitely make sense since there was never an actual court order in place, just a couple of letters from CSA confirming to both of us how much he should be paying.

Still conflicting advice though on whether it should be handled by the Spanish or British courts; will probably approach the UK ones for their advice first .....:undecided

Wasabi74

Non Resident Parent living in the UK
The REMO (Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders) agreement with participating countries works both ways. This means that if a parent with care and the child both live abroad, they can apply for a foreign maintenance order which will be enforceable against the non-resident parent who is living in the UK.

I have found this on a law website; it would indicate to Unforeseen's post being correct in that I would need to apply for a Spanish maintenance order and ask REMO to enforce it in the UK.

Wasabi74

Updating for anyone finding themselves in this position in the future.

I have contacted REMO in the UK directly (contact details below) and they have confirmed that I should indeed contact the Spanish courts in order to apply for a maintenance order. They will then forward it to REMO for processing.


+44 (0)20 3681 2757
Fax: 020 3681 8764
e-mail: remo@offsol.gsi.gov.uk

silvercar

Wasabi74 wrote: »

Updating for anyone finding themselves in this position in the future.

I have contacted REMO in the UK directly (contact details below) and they have confirmed that I should indeed contact the Spanish courts in order to apply for a maintenance order. They will then forward it to REMO for processing.


+44 (0)20 3681 2757
Fax: 020 3681 8764
e-mail: remo@offsol.gsi.gov.uk

Presumably the Spanish courts will apply their own guidelines on what is an appropriate level of maintenance, based on some combination of assumed living costs in Spain and ex's income. I can't see why Spanish courts would use CSA (UK) calculators to work out maintenance levels.