Maintenance refers to legal obligations that one person should pay for the welfare and support of another. Here, a dependent is usually paid. Under the family maintenance law, parents must pay child support after divorce or separation.
According to the law, a child is dependent on the parents until the age of 18, and parents must make sure to pay the child support amount. The family maintenance act of Canada gives weight in maintaining child support after parents’ separation.
Under the family law, the parents of the child are ordered maintenance by the court. The court provides a written form of the handout that indicates what kind of support the parents need to follow and whether one or both of the parents will be eligible to pay.
The law order states the followings:
Once the maintenance order is issued under the family maintenance law, the judge will summon each party for a court hearing. There can be three different cases for three different scenarios then-
If the ex-spouse, to whom the maintenance order is issued and who is bound to pay support under the family law, shows up in court, the court will record a consent order when the ex-spouse agrees to the maintenance order.
In case of the ex-spouse not being present that day, the court will put out a warrant of arrest. On the other hand, if you do not show up in court, the application of the maintenance order will be canceled.
The court will ask you to settle it with your ex-spouse on your own outside the court, which is a basic rule. If that is not possible, the court may order a mediator for settlement.
This is the final situation where the court itself takes the matter into hand and decides with lawyers of each side. In the end, the court will give its decision which under the family support law both parties will have to abide by.
When a family maintenance order is imposed over one parent, he/she is bound to follow it under the family maintenance act. Defaulting from it may result in various punishments-
The defaulter parent may be jailed for each month the amount is owed. And even when the parent is released, the maintenance amount must be paid.
The court may order counseling related to the finances of the defaulter. This court decision may come when the defaulter parent is in financial difficulty, in particular, even to carry his/her own expenses.
Some other forms of decisions may come if the court decides not to impose any of the previous two. For example, the defaulter parent may be subjected to perform social services, which will be unpaid. Besides, the defaulter parent’s employer may be asked to deduct the maintenance amount before paying the defaulter his/her monthly wage or salary.
This is a special program designed to ensure that the family support law is upheld, and the parent issued a maintenance order is paying the amounts regularly. People usually enroll in this program when they are not getting their maintenance periodically and let the professionals and authorities take control to collect the payments. To enroll in the program just follow these simple steps:
The law is designed to ease the process of maintaining order with an effective and quick response. The law and order might become a lengthy process; however, due to the increasing rate of defaulters. In any case, the custodian parent should always carry out his/her duty required over this child’s care.
