Can Unpaid Support Suspend Your Licence or Passport in British Columbia?

Missed support payments can lead to much more than a letter. In British Columbia, the enforcement system has several tools, and some of them reach your driver's licence, your vehicle plates and even your passport. If you pay support, it helps to know where the lines are. If you receive it, it helps to know what options exist.

Enforcement of support orders is handled through the program formerly known as FMEP, which now operates as the BC Family Maintenance Agency. This article explains the licence-based tools, how they sit alongside wage attachment and court hearings, and what a payor can do to stop arrears from growing.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

Driver's licence cancellation under the provincial route

Under the Family Maintenance Enforcement Act (FMEA), when arrears total $3,000 or more, the director can, after 30 days' notice, have ICBC cancel the debtor's driver's licence. The same step allows ICBC to refuse a licence and number plates for a motor vehicle or trailer the debtor owns.

The two conditions work together: the arrears threshold and the notice period. If you receive a notice, it is a signal to act quickly, and whether paying, making arrangements or applying to change the order will affect the licence step depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer. Once the 30 days' notice has been given and arrears are at $3,000 or more, the director can have ICBC cancel the licence.

Passport and other federal licences

There is a separate federal route under the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act. A debtor is in persistent arrears if arrears exist in any three payment periods, or if accumulated arrears reach $3,000 or more. In that case a provincial enforcement service may apply to have a federal licence, including a passport, suspended or refused.

Notably, no appeal lies from action taken under that Part of the federal Act. That makes it especially important to deal with arrears before they reach that point.

The federal Act also allows federal Crown money designated by regulation to be garnished for support enforcement, and service of a garnishee summons binds the Crown for five years in respect of garnishable moneys. Whether a particular federal payment, such as a tax refund, is covered depends on what the regulations designate, so do not assume it is or is not included without confirming.

How these tools fit with other enforcement steps

Licence measures are only part of the picture. The table below sets out the main tools.

If you are an employer who receives a notice of attachment, you may not dismiss, discipline or otherwise penalize the employee because of it. The court may order reinstatement or damages if you do.

Enforcement does not change the order

A common misunderstanding is that going through enforcement, or explaining your situation at a hearing, will adjust what you owe. An FMEA proceeding is not itself a way to change support. Appeals from Provincial Court orders under the FMEA go to the Supreme Court.

Child support under an order continues until a court changes, suspends or terminates the order under s. 152 of the Family Law Act, and a payor cannot end it by their own decision. Spousal support orders are changed under a different section, s. 167 of the Family Law Act. Meanwhile, arrears under a maintenance order bear simple interest at the rate set by regulation.

Stopping arrears from growing by applying to change support

If your income has dropped or your circumstances have otherwise changed, you may be able to apply to change the order, but the test depends on the type of support and the law the order was made under. For child support, a court can change, suspend or terminate an order, prospectively or retroactively, if a change in circumstances as provided for in the child support guidelines has occurred since the order was made. The order can also be changed on substantial new evidence that was unavailable at the earlier hearing. If the order was made under the federal Divorce Act, child support variation also requires a change of circumstances as provided for in the guidelines. For spousal support under the Family Law Act, a court may change an order if there has been a change in the condition, means, needs or other circumstances of either spouse, or on substantial new evidence.

For an order made under the Family Law Act, you apply in Provincial Court on Form 3 (Application About a Family Law Matter) with the schedule for the order type, such as Schedule 4 for child support, and you attach a copy of the order or agreement. An order made under the federal Divorce Act is varied under section 17 of that Act instead. Timing matters. A payor who applies promptly to change support may obtain a retroactive reduction of arrears, while one who waits risks arrears and interest continuing to accumulate.

What to do next

• Check the amount of arrears your records and the enforcement agency's records show, and note whether they are near $3,000.
• Read any notice you receive carefully and note the 30-day period from the date of the notice.
• Keep paying what you can while any application is pending, since the order stays in force until a court changes it.
• Gather the order, recent income records and proof of any change in your circumstances.
• If you receive support, keep your own record of payments received and missed.
• Speak with a family lawyer about the right forum and application for your situation, especially if a notice has already been issued.

Frequently asked questions