The Family Responsibility Office and Your Family Law Case
The laws of Ontario make it possible for former couples to resolve many financial matters without involving the courts. For example, if you are dissolving a domestic partnership and you and your partner were never legally married, you can divide your property by signing a separation agreement, where you and your partner agreed to its terms on your own, with or without a lawyer’s help, without ever setting foot in a courtroom. The court does not even have to know that the separation agreement exists unless a dispute arises from it and the parties ask the court to issue a ruling to resolve the dispute. Even spousal support and child support payments can take place by mutual agreement; the court does not have to manage every transaction. The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) has the task of overseeing child support and spousal support payments where the parties have not consistently remitted the necessary payments in accordance with their agreement or with the relevant court order. For help resolving a child support or spousal support matter with the FRO, contact a Mississauga family lawyer.
How to Pay Child Support Payments Through the FRO
Once the FRO is involved in your child support case, you must send your child support payments through the FRO instead of directly to your ex, even if you sent the money directly to your ex in the past. The FRO keeps track of your payments. If you send a payment to your ex directly instead of through the FRO, it charges a $100 processing fee to credit the payment to you. It is possible to set up automatic debits from your bank account to the FRO in the amount of your monthly child support obligations.
The FRO is the sole point of contact for paying child support only if both parents reside in Ontario. If the parent who pays child support resides outside Ontario, then there is a different process for paying child support.
The FRO Can Help You If Your Ex Does Not Pay Your Children’s Court-Ordered Child Support
If your ex agreed to pay child support pursuant to your separation agreement, or if the court ordered your ex to pay child support, then contacting the FRO is the first step in enforcing the child support order. You should give the FRO a copy of your separation agreement if this was what determined your child support obligation, as opposed to a court order. If it was a court order that set your child support obligation, then the family court has already provided the FRO with a copy of the court order. If your ex will not pay the child support amount that the court ordered, a family lawyer can help you interact with the FRO to enforce the child support order and collect the child support that your ex owes you.
Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Enforcing Child Support
A family lawyer can help you if your ex has not been fulfilling his or her child support obligations. Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.
Source:
ontario.ca/page/paying-and-receiving-child-and-spousal-support
