File with the Family Responsibility Office

To ensure that payments are made, all spousal support orders and child support orders (including child support orders that have been set-up online) which are issued by the courts are now automatically sent to the Ontario Government’s Family Responsibility Office (FRO).

Child Support orders filed online

When child support is set-up or changed using the online method, both parents may be required to complete a consent form to allow the Canada Revenue Agency to share their income information with the service.

Once this is done, both parents will be mailed a Notice of Calculation or Recalculation. This document includes the new child support arrangement, including the amount to be paid, and it can be enforced just like a court order. Visit ontario.ca for more information on filing for child support online.

Support orders made through a written agreement

If you have reached an agreement for child or spousal support (usually as part of a separation agreement) without a court order, you are still able to file your agreement with the FRO at any time, and ask them to enforce it. The FRO will do so provided that the agreement has been filed with the court. By filing with the court, it enables the agreement to be enforced as if it were an order of the court.

To have it enforced by the FRO you must:

• Submit a copy of the written arrangement and completed affidavit (that shows agreement was submitted) to the nearest courthouse. This can be submitted by mail or in person.
• Send a copy of the written agreement only to the Family Responsibility Office by mail or fax.

How is support paid?

The FRO Office then co-ordinates and monitors all support payments. All payments are made to the FRO, not the party receiving support. If the paying spouse is employed, payments are automatically deducted from the supporting spouse’s pay and sent to the FRO. If payments are not being deducted from an employed supporting spouse’s pay, payments must be sent directly, by the supporting spouse, to the FRO by one of the following methods:

• Pre-authorized debit (PAD) from a bank account
• Arrangements with their financial institution
• Telephone banking (if available)
• Online banking (if available)
• Cheque or money order

In all situations, the Office forwards the payments to the receiving spouse, either by cheque or direct deposit. The first payment should be received within 30 to 60 days after the support order is registered. After that, the money is sent to the recipient within 24 to 48 hours.

In order for the FRO to be able to assist you in enforcing your order or agreement, it is necessary for them to have sufficient details about your case. Therefore, when filing your order or agreement, you must also submit the Support Deduction Information Form, which is available at the court. This form asks for information about you and your spouse, including detailed information about the payor spouse, such as their full name, address, social insurance number, place of employment or business, income, and any property they own. The support deduction order allows the FRO to collect support by sending notice to a support payor’s employer or other income source. Support can then be deducted from the payor’s income.

It is important to update the information on this form whenever the information changes, for example if your spouse gets a different job or moves. By having up-to-date information, the FRO will be able to better help you collect your support payments.

How can unpaid support be collected?

If the supporting spouse does not enter into a payment plan, such as automatic deductions from employment, or has not been making payments to the FRO by any other method as required, the FRO can take various courses of action to enforce the order or agreement. The FRO has been given a broad range of powers. For example, the FRO can:

• garnish, meaning to take money from, the defaulting spouse’s other sources of income, if the spouse does not have a regular employer, such as a bank account, an income tax refund, a pension or even a disability payment;
• in some circumstances, take steps to sell property owned by the spouse and put that money toward support payments (called issuing a writ of seizure and sale for property);
• put a lien on the defaulting spouse’s personal or real property, such as a car or house;
• suspend the driver’s licence of a defaulting spouse;
• report the defaulting spouse to credit bureaus so that it will be difficult for them to get loans; or
• cancel the defaulting spouse’s passport.

Amendments to the Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act (“GAPDA”) establish that with respect to  garnishment applications, family support debts are to take priority over commercial debts and all other debts (other than government debts), to promote the economic well-being of children.

Changes to the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act (the “FOAEAA”) help establish and enforce support and expand the scope of authority for provincial enforcement agencies. Among other things, the new rules allow the federal government to release an individual’s income information, including information from tax returns, to a court for the purposes of establishing, varying or enforcing support orders and increases the group of provincial family justice organizations that can request the release of such information.

The FRO will only cease its enforcement actions if both the recipient and payor spouses agree. For more information, visit the Family Responsibility Office.

A criminal record will affect child custody and adoption. To erase your criminal record, call toll-free 1-888-808-3628 or learn more at Pardon Partners. It’s easier than you think.

								
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