Spousal Support Arrears: Difference between revisions
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{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = spousalsupport}} | {{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = spousalsupport}} | ||
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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 Family Maintenance Enforcement Program, a provincial government program under the provincial ''Family Maintenance Enforcement Act'' which has been contracted out to an American company, Maximus (Themis), not that you'd know this from the government website. FMEP is free service for recipients that is largely funded by late fees and penalties charged to delinquent payors. | 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.fmep.gov.bc.ca/ Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP)], a provincial government program under the provincial ''[http://canlii.ca/t/840m Family Maintenance Enforcement Act]'' which has been contracted out to an American company, Maximus (Themis), not that you'd know this from the government website. FMEP is free service for recipients that is largely funded by late fees and penalties charged to delinquent payors. | ||
FMEP has no discretion to change the orders and agreements that are filed with it for enforcement. FMEP cannot increase or decrease the amount of a spousal support obligation and it cannot reduce or cancel arrears of spousal support. | FMEP has no discretion to change the orders and agreements that are filed with it for enforcement. FMEP cannot increase or decrease the amount of a spousal support obligation and it cannot reduce or cancel arrears of spousal support. | ||
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FMEP is free for recipients. All you have to do is file your order or filed separation agreement with the program and fill out an application form. FMEP will take the matter from there, and the program is authorized by the ''Family Maintenance Enforcement Act'' to take whatever legal steps are required to enforce an ongoing support obligation, and track and collect on any outstanding arrears, plus interest accumulating on those arrears. | FMEP is free for recipients. All you have to do is file your order or filed separation agreement with the program and fill out an application form. FMEP will take the matter from there, and the program is authorized by the ''Family Maintenance Enforcement Act'' to take whatever legal steps are required to enforce an ongoing support obligation, and track and collect on any outstanding arrears, plus interest accumulating on those arrears. | ||
Under the ''Family Maintenance Enforcement Act'', FMEP has the authority to commence and conduct any court proceedings that can be undertaken by a private creditor, as well as some unique actions that the program alone can take. Among FMEP's collection powers are: | Under the ''[http://canlii.ca/t/840m Family Maintenance Enforcement Act]'', FMEP has the authority to commence and conduct any court proceedings that can be undertaken by a private creditor, as well as some unique actions that the program alone can take. Among FMEP's collection powers are: | ||
#garnishing the payor's wages, | #garnishing the payor's wages, | ||
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While it is possible to undertake collection or enforcement proceedings 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 on your behalf by FMEP, recipients enrolled with FMEP are required to obtain the permission of the program's director before they can take independent enforcement actions. | While it is possible to undertake collection or enforcement proceedings 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 on your behalf by FMEP, recipients enrolled with FMEP are required to obtain the permission of the program's director before they can take independent enforcement actions. | ||
More information about enforcing orders can be found in the page | More information about enforcing orders can be found in the page [[Enforcing Orders in Family Matters]] and at the website of the [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/fcy-fea/sup-pen/enf-exe/info_cont.html Department of Justice], which includes a helpful overview of support enforcement mechanisms in Canada. | ||
===Separation agreements=== | ===Separation agreements=== | ||
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FMEP 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. | FMEP 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. | ||
More information about enforcing agreements can be found in the chapter | More information about enforcing agreements can be found in the page on [[Enforcing Family Law Agreements]] in the chapter on [[Family Law Agreements]]. | ||
===Orders made outside British Columbia=== | ===Orders made outside British Columbia=== | ||
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Section 20 of the ''[[Divorce Act]]'' says that an order made in a divorce action has legal effect throughout Canada. It also provides that such an order may be filed in the courts of any province and be enforced as if it were an order of the courts of that province. In other words, if your divorce order was made in Alberta and contains a term requiring spousal support to be paid, you can register that order in the Supreme Court of British Columbia and it will have the same effect and be enforceable here as if it were an order of the courts of British Columbia. | Section 20 of the ''[[Divorce Act]]'' says that an order made in a divorce action has legal effect throughout Canada. It also provides that such an order may be filed in the courts of any province and be enforced as if it were an order of the courts of that province. In other words, if your divorce order was made in Alberta and contains a term requiring spousal support to be paid, you can register that order in the Supreme Court of British Columbia and it will have the same effect and be enforceable here as if it were an order of the courts of British Columbia. | ||
The provincial ''Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act'' allows orders for spousal support made under provincial laws elsewhere in Canada, and in certain foreign states, to be filed in our courts and enforced as if they were British Columbia orders. The reciprocating states under the ''Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act'' are South Africa, Zimbabwe, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Gibraltar, Norway, the Slovak Republic, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and its protectorates, the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and Barbados and its dependencies | The provincial ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84l3 Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act]'' allows orders for spousal support made under provincial laws elsewhere in Canada, and in certain foreign states, to be filed in our courts and enforced as if they were British Columbia orders. The reciprocating states under the ''Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act'' are South Africa, Zimbabwe, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Gibraltar, Norway, the Slovak Republic, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and its protectorates, the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and Barbados and its dependencies. | ||
Foreign orders which are filed in this province may be enforced by FMEP as if they were orders made by the courts of British Columbia. See the chapter on [[Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]], and in particular the page on [[Enforcing Orders in Family Matters]], for more information. | |||
<!---HIDDEN | |||
==Further Reading in this Chapter== | ==Further Reading in this Chapter== | ||
* <span style="color: red;">bulleted list of other pages in this chapter, linked</span> | * <span style="color: red;">bulleted list of other pages in this chapter, linked</span> | ||
END HIDDEN ---> | |||
==Page | ==Page resources and links== | ||
===Legislation=== | ===Legislation=== | ||
* | * ''[[Family Law Act]]'' | ||
* ''[[Divorce Act]]'' | |||
* [http://canlii.ca/t/840m Family Maintenance Enforcement Act] | |||
* [http://canlii.ca/t/84h5 Court Order Enforcement Act] | |||
* [http://canlii.ca/t/84l3 Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act] | |||
===Links=== | ===Links=== | ||
* | * [http://www.fmep.gov.bc.ca/ Family Maintenance Enforcement Program Website] | ||
* | * [http://www.maximuscanada.ca/ MAXIMUS Canada] | ||
* [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/fcy-fea/sup-pen/enf-exe/info_cont.html Department of Justice: Provincial and Territorial Information on Interjurisdictional and International Support Order Enforcement] | |||
{{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}} | {{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}} | ||