Child Support Arrears: Difference between revisions
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When a person who is obliged to pay child support fails to meet some or all of that obligation, a debt begins to accumulate and the amount owing is called the payor's ''arrears'' of support | When a person who is obliged to pay child support fails to meet some or all of that obligation, a debt begins to accumulate and the amount owing is called the payor's ''arrears'' of support. | ||
This | People generally have two different goals when arrears begin to mount up: the person responsible for paying support likely wants the court to reduce or cancel the arrears, while the person receiving the support will want the court to force the payor to pay what's owing. | ||
This section provides an introduction to the problem of arrears, and a discussion of the reduction and cancellation of arrears of child support is followed by a discussion of the collection of arrears. | |||
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
If child support is owed under a court order or an agreement, a failure to pay the support owing is a breach of that order or agreement, and, in the case of orders, it's contempt of court as well. The courts and society as a whole place a high value on the financial support of children, and both take an extremely dim view of anyone who defaults on such an obligation in the absence of a very good excuse or some very | If child support is owed under a court order or an agreement, a failure to pay the support owing is a breach of that order or agreement, and, in the case of orders, it's contempt of court as well. The courts and society as a whole place a high value on the financial support of children, and both take an extremely dim view of anyone who defaults on such an obligation in the absence of a very good excuse or some very compelling circumstances. | ||
A person who owes arrears of child support, a ''payor'', will likely be interested in the ways that the outstanding amount can be reduced, while a person to whom support is owing, a ''recipient'', will be interested in collecting on the arrears. A person who owes arrears will generally have a difficult time convincing the court to forgive all or some of his or her debt. On the other hand, collecting arrears can be difficult as well, if for no other reason than the fact that you can't get blood from a stone. Unless the payor has another source of funds to draw upon, a recipient may discover that the outstanding support will never be recovered. | A person who owes arrears of child support, a ''payor'', will likely be interested in the ways that the outstanding amount can be reduced, while a person to whom support is owing, a ''recipient'', will be interested in collecting on the arrears. | ||
A person who owes arrears will generally have a difficult time convincing the court to forgive all or some of his or her debt. On the other hand, collecting arrears can be difficult as well, if for no other reason than the fact that you can't get blood from a stone. Unless the payor has another source of funds to draw upon, a recipient may discover that the outstanding support will never be recovered. | |||
Despite these barriers and obstacles, it is possible for a payor to have his or her arrears reduced and, sometimes, cancelled altogether. At the same time, recipients have access to some very powerful and effective enforcement tools to collect outstanding arrears of support. | Despite these barriers and obstacles, it is possible for a payor to have his or her arrears reduced and, sometimes, cancelled altogether. At the same time, recipients have access to some very powerful and effective enforcement tools to collect outstanding arrears of support. | ||
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===The Family Maintenance Enforcement Program=== | ===The Family Maintenance Enforcement Program=== | ||
Although recipients can enforce orders and agreements for child 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)] | Although recipients can enforce orders and agreements for child 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)]. This 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, although it will make important, judge-like decisions about who is and isn't entitled to receive child support. FMEP cannot increase or decrease the amount of a child support obligation and it cannot reduce or cancel arrears of child support. | FMEP has no discretion to change the orders and agreements that are filed with it for enforcement, although it will make important, judge-like decisions about who is and isn't entitled to receive child support. FMEP cannot increase or decrease the amount of a child support obligation and it cannot reduce or cancel arrears of child support. | ||