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Hi there
I am a British dad living in Britain. I have a child with a Canadian who lives in Canada with our son. I pay regular monthly support and also save each month an amount that allows me to travel and see my son when I can. My ex earns a similar level of income to me and claims all the regular child social security benefits you would expect.
My ex is threatening me with court action and also to take my driving licence off me??!! Can the child support system in Manitoba - Canada do this? I need my licence for work!
Will the UK based CSA support the authorities in Canada in doing this?
I'm afraid all this is new to me as we have always had a private - verbal agreement.
Hope you can help
I would have a word with these people: https://www.gov.uk/remo-unit-helpline
The CSA/CMS do have the power to remove a driving license, but I'm not sure how that works in conjunction with Canada, it would depend if there is a reciprocal arrangement, and generally it's only used as a last resort for people who are refusing to pay.
Thanks actd
I will give that a go
Hi Manitoba
Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. I will provide some information that may help answer your query.
With your ex-wife living in Canada, she could apply to the courts in her country for a court order for child 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 as mentioned, you may wish to contact the REMO unit of the Official Solicitor and Public Trustee to find out if the Canadian statutory child maintenance service or your ex-partner would need to make the court application and if your driving license can be confiscated. You can find the contact details for the REMO unit at https://www.gov.uk/remo-unit-helpline.
If your ex-partner is unhappy with your private or family-based arrangement, you could try getting in contact with her and renegotiating a new agreement to one that both of you will be happy with. This is because a family-based arrangement is not legally-binding and there is no legal involvement in your arrangement.
For more information on the ways to set up child maintenance for parents that live in the UK, 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.
Regards
William
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