Enforcing Orders in Family Matters: Difference between revisions

Payors can enroll in FMEP too. It can sometimes happen, usually as part of a larger dispute, that a recipient will refuse to accept the payor's support payments. If a payor simply throws up their hands and says "fine, I'll keep the money," the payor can find themself seriously disadvantaged if it ever goes to a hearing, plus the payor may have to pay the money the recipient originally refused to accept!  What can also happen is that parties disagree about the amounts actually paid (e.g. if the amounts were paid in cash, or if support payments were co-mingled with other kinds of payments), and as the payor, the onus is on you to show how much you paid.

When a payor enrolls in FMEP, FMEP will accept the payor's payments and attempt to forward them to the recipient. If the recipient still refuses to accept the payments, FMEP will keep the payments on behalf of the recipient as well as a record of the payments made. This will protect the payor's interests if there is ever a hearing. This can save the payor from falling into arrears.

There is a serious potential downside for payors who enroll in FMEP, however. Once you are enrolled, you can't escape the program without the consent of the recipient. In other words, once you've enrolled you may very well find yourself stuck there until your support obligation ends.