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Hi,
I live in the Uk and have just found an unstamped letter at my door which seems to be a summons letter from a Polish court. I have read it and now realise it is a application from my ex against me for child maintenance for my son who I never see (through no fault of my own). My ex is trying to get a backdated payment (2006 - present) for the sum of £16,000. The letter also says my ex wants regular payments of £394 a month after this which I am happy to pay the regular payments but not sure about backdated money because I was in a terrible situation then!
Questions:
1. Do I have to pay the backdated sum of £16,000 if I wasn't working the whole time she wants paying for? My unemployment was due to a serious car accident which left me 62% full thickness burns/ burnt and so I was in receipt of benefits whilst recovering which was a very long time. (My ex left me shortly after my accident (2006) and took off to Poland 2010)
2. Does she lose any rights because she has never bother claiming before and she also took my son to Poland without my permission??
3.how enforceable is a Polish court order here in the UK?
I am going to see a solicitor on monday but my mind is going crazy about this, so I am hoping for some advice or to hear some facts from someone in regards to this! I DO BELIEVE PARENTS SHOULD CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS THEIR CHILD/CHILDREN but don't see how I need to pay £16,000 when at that time I was in a really bad way and could not pay!....My mother had to care for me when I left hospital.
Thanks
ps I just want honest help so if you feel you're going to get all judgemental like I've seen others do on these sites then please don't bother replying thanks.
I think you will need specialist help - possibly a Polish lawyer, but I'd give these people a ring to see if they can help https://www.gov.uk/remo-unit-helpline
Hi SpySee
Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. I will try and provide some general information that may help answer your query.
A receiving parent who lives abroad and wants to apply for child maintenance from a paying parent who lives in the UK can approach the equivalent of a local magistrates', or county court in their country to apply for a court order for maintenance to be made. This can then be enforced by the Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO).
This is an agreement set up via the British Government with other countries, to enable citizens to receive maintenance if a parent lives abroad. You can find a full list of participating countries at www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/protecting-the-vulnerable/official-solicitor/reciprocal-enforcement-of-maintenance-orders/remo-location-list.pdf. As actd has also mentioned, you can find more information at https://www.gov.uk/remo-unit-helpline.
With regards to your other questions relating to the legal request that you have received from Poland, you may wish to speak to your solicitor when you next see them.
For your information, the other way that you can set up a child maintenance arrangement with your ex-partner is to come to an agreement between yourselves, in the form of a family-based arrangement. With this type of child maintenance, there are no strict rules to stick to.
A family-based arrangement can include both money and other kinds of support, such as you directly paying for things that your son may need. They are not legally-binding, however, many parents prefer family-based arrangements because of their flexibility and ease of which they can be reviewed (such as if you or your ex-partner’s circumstances change). You can gain access to our tools and guides by visiting our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/family/index.asp.
For more information on the ways to set up child maintenance, please visit our website at http://www.cmoptions.org. Alternatively, you can call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on a Saturday. We have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is: www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.
Regards
William
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