Enforcing an Alberta Order When Your Ex Moves Provinces

If your ex has moved to another province or country, you may worry that your Alberta order no longer means anything. In many cases it still does, but the practical steps can change.

This article explains, in general terms, how Divorce Act orders travel across Canada, how support payments are handled when someone leaves Alberta, and what to ask a lawyer. The right path depends on which law your order was made under and where your ex now lives.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

Your order usually still applies

Under section 20(2) of the Divorce Act, orders about support, parenting time, decision-making responsibility or contact made under that Act have legal effect throughout Canada. Under section 20(3), such an order may be registered in any court in a province and enforced as that court's own order, or enforced in any other manner provided by that province's laws, including reciprocal enforcement arrangements.

If your order was made under the Alberta Family Law Act instead, the options for enforcing it elsewhere depend on the laws of the place your ex now lives. A lawyer can confirm the route.

Support payments and the Maintenance Enforcement Program

The Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP) can facilitate support payments if the payor or recipient lives outside Alberta, under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, through reciprocal registration agreements. Those agreements cover all Canadian provinces and territories, all American states and territories, and over 20 other countries.

A payor living outside Alberta pays the enforcement program in their own jurisdiction, not the recipient directly, to avoid late penalties and double payment. To change an order or get file updates, contact the enforcement program where you live.

The Family Law Act also says a court may vary, suspend or terminate a support order even though the order has been filed, for example with the Maintenance Enforcement Program.

Parenting orders and enforcement elsewhere

For parenting time under the Alberta Family Law Act, the enforcement application is filed with a copy of the parenting-time order at the court that granted it. The court can direct police to help enforce a visit or to find and return a child who was not returned. How that works once a child is in another province can be complicated, so get advice early if a child has not been returned.

If a Divorce Act parenting order is registered in another province, it may be enforced as that court's own order.

Under the Family Law Act, a parenting-time enforcement order requires the court to be satisfied there was a denial of time within 12 months of the application being brought. The court can order a penalty of up to $100 for each day of denial of time, and imprisonment (continuous or intermittent) up to a maximum of 90 days. The Act's penalties apply only if you apply to the court.

Where an enforcement order has a police-assistance provision, an enforcement officer must assist the applicant on request and on production of a certified copy of the order. An officer need not bring the child to the applicant if the officer decides, in the immediate circumstances, that it is not in the child's best interests.

Changing the order after a move

A move can change what is practical, and a person may want the order changed. A Divorce Act order that has effect across Canada can be varied by a court only in accordance with the Act, even if it was registered elsewhere. For parenting orders, the court must be satisfied that there has been a change in the circumstances of the child since the order was made.

For child support, Alberta.ca says that if the other parent lives outside Alberta in a reciprocating jurisdiction, the order may still be changed and a recipient can complete an interjurisdictional child support application. If the other parent lives outside Canada, you may need to apply to serve the documents another way.

The Child Support Recalculation Program generally requires that both parents live in Alberta, though a recipient who lives elsewhere in Canada can request registration if their income is not needed for the recalculation.

What to do next

• Find out whether your order was made under the Divorce Act or the Family Law Act.
• Get a certified copy of the order and keep a record of payments and missed parenting time.
• If support is registered, contact the Maintenance Enforcement Program and tell them about the move.
• If you now live outside Alberta, contact the enforcement program where you live for updates.
• Ask a lawyer in the relevant province or in Alberta before filing anything new.

Frequently asked questions