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Difference between revisions of "Spousal Support Arrears"
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===The Family Maintenance Enforcement Program=== | ===The Family Maintenance Enforcement Program=== | ||
Although recipients can enforce orders and agreements for spousal support on their own, most of the time recipients will give that job to the [http://www. | Although recipients can enforce orders and agreements for spousal support on their own, most of the time recipients will give that job to the [http://www.bcfma.ca BC Family Maintenance Agency], which is the name for what many still know as the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program. BCFMA is the new name for FMEP. This is a provincial government program under the provincial ''[http://canlii.ca/t/840m Family Maintenance Enforcement Act]'' that tracks payments that are owing and those that are paid, calculates the interest owing on payments that are not made, and can impose fines when payments aren't made. | ||
BCFMA is a free service for recipients. Its purpose is to enforce the payment of spousal support. | |||
It's important to know that | It's important to know that BCFMA can't change agreements and orders about spousal support. BCFMA can't increase or decrease the amount of a spousal support obligation and it can't reduce or cancel arrears of spousal support. BCFMA does not help recipients respond to applications to change support orders, set aside agreements, or reduce or cancel arrears. You'll have to do that on your own. But from the recipient's perspective, just having BCFMA take over enforcement of the order or agreement can be a huge relief. | ||
==Reducing and cancelling arrears== | ==Reducing and cancelling arrears== | ||
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==Collecting arrears of support== | ==Collecting arrears of support== | ||
The collection of debts and enforcement of judgments occupies a whole course at law school and is not a simple matter. The provincial government has, however, established an agency responsible for enforcing support obligations, the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program, or FMEP. Someone who is entitled to receive child support or spousal support under an agreement or order can sign up with this program and the program will tend to the enforcement of the agreement or order without a great deal of further involvement on the part of the recipient. | The collection of debts and enforcement of judgments occupies a whole course at law school and is not a simple matter. The provincial government has, however, established an agency responsible for enforcing support obligations, the BC Family Maintenance Agency, or BCFMA (formerly the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program, or FMEP). Someone who is entitled to receive child support or spousal support under an agreement or order can sign up with this program and the program will tend to the enforcement of the agreement or order without a great deal of further involvement on the part of the recipient. | ||
BCFMA is free for recipients. All you have to do is file your agreement or order with the program and fill out an application form. (Agreements about spousal support must be filed in court first.) BCFMA will take the matter from there, and the program is authorized by the ''[http://canlii.ca/t/840m Family Maintenance Enforcement Act]'' to take whatever legal steps may be required to enforce an ongoing support obligation, and track and collect on any unpaid support and the interest accumulating on any unpaid support. | |||
The ''Family Maintenance Enforcement Act'' gives | The ''Family Maintenance Enforcement Act'' gives BCFMA a lot power to collect spousal support. The program can start and manage all of the court proceedings that can be undertaken by a private creditor, as well as some unique actions that the program alone can take. BCFMA can also: | ||
*garnish the payor's wages, | *garnish the payor's wages, | ||
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*get an order for the payor's arrest. | *get an order for the payor's arrest. | ||
While it is possible to make collection or enforcement efforts on your own, this will cost money and time and possibly require you to hire a lawyer and bear that expense as well. Since any private collection efforts you might take may interfere with efforts being made by | While it is possible to make collection or enforcement efforts on your own, this will cost money and time and possibly require you to hire a lawyer and bear that expense as well. Since any private collection efforts you might take may interfere with efforts being made by BCFMA, recipients enrolled with BCFMA are required to get the permission of the program's director before they take independent enforcement steps. | ||
You can find more information about enforcing orders in the chapter [[Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]] within the section [[Enforcing Orders in Family Matters]]. You can also find more information at the website of the [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/enforce-execution/index.html Department of Justice], which includes a helpful overview of support enforcement mechanisms in Canada. | You can find more information about enforcing orders in the chapter [[Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]] within the section [[Enforcing Orders in Family Matters]]. You can also find more information at the website of the [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/enforce-execution/index.html Department of Justice], which includes a helpful overview of support enforcement mechanisms in Canada. | ||
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Section 163(3) of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' allows a party to an agreement, usually a separation agreement, to file the agreement in the Provincial Court or in the Supreme Court. An agreement that is filed in court can be enforced as if it were an order of the court. It is not necessary for a court proceeding to have been started before an agreement can be filed in court, nor is it necessary that the agreement be a British Columbia agreement. | Section 163(3) of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' allows a party to an agreement, usually a separation agreement, to file the agreement in the Provincial Court or in the Supreme Court. An agreement that is filed in court can be enforced as if it were an order of the court. It is not necessary for a court proceeding to have been started before an agreement can be filed in court, nor is it necessary that the agreement be a British Columbia agreement. | ||
BCFMA will enforce agreements for support, however they require that an original copy of the agreement be filed in court and sent to them, with the court's stamp, before they can enforce the agreement. | |||
You can find more information about enforcing agreements in the chapter [[Family Law Agreements]], in the section [[Enforcing Family Law Agreements]]. | You can find more information about enforcing agreements in the chapter [[Family Law Agreements]], in the section [[Enforcing Family Law Agreements]]. | ||
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* ''[[Family Law Act]]'' | * ''[[Family Law Act]]'' | ||
* ''[[Divorce Act]]'' | * ''[[Divorce Act]]'' | ||
* ''[ | * ''[https://canlii.ca/t/840m Family Maintenance Enforcement Act]'' | ||
* ''[ | * ''[https://canlii.ca/t/84h5 Court Order Enforcement Act]'' | ||
* ''[ | * ''[https://canlii.ca/t/84l3 Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act]'' | ||
===Links=== | ===Links=== | ||
* [ | * [https://www.bcfma.ca BC Family Maintenance Agency website] (formerly FMEP) | ||
* [ | * [https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/enforce-execution/info_cont.html Department of Justice: Provincial and Territorial Information on Interjurisdictional and International Support Order Enforcement] | ||
* [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/global/search?f=Family+law%7c1160&so=v Spousal support resources on Clicklaw] | * [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/global/search?f=Family+law%7c1160&so=v Spousal support resources on Clicklaw] | ||
