How the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP) Works in BC

If child support is late or not paid, chasing the other parent yourself can be stressful. If you are the paying parent, you may want to understand what happens once your order is enforced by an agency. British Columbia has a government service for exactly this.

Government pages refer to the BC Family Maintenance Agency (BCFMA), which can enforce a written agreement or order if necessary. The Family Maintenance Enforcement Act refers to the "director", who must enforce a filed order where necessary and practicable. This article explains how enrolment works and the main tools used.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

What the program does

The agency enforces maintenance orders and agreements. Either the creditor (the person owed support) or the debtor (the person who pays) may file a maintenance order with the director. Once it is filed, the director must enforce it where necessary and practicable.

While an order is filed, only the director or an authorized creditor may enforce it. A creditor can withdraw the order by written notice. This means you normally stop enforcing it yourself while the agency is involved.

Child support orders are made under the Family Law Act or the Divorce Act, and in both cases the court follows the applicable child support guidelines. Enforcement is about collecting what an order already says. It is not the place where the amount is decided or reconsidered.

How to enrol

You need a written agreement or order first. If you have an agreement, it must be filed with the court registry before it can be enrolled. A written child support agreement that is filed in court is enforceable as if it were a court order.

There are several ways to get an enrolment package. You can apply online, call 1-866-557-2427 for a mailed package, download a copy, or pick one up at a provincial courthouse or ServiceBC. The agency sends a Notice of Filing when enrolment is complete.

It also helps to know how an agreement is treated. A child support agreement is binding only if it was made after separation or when the parties are about to separate, and on application the court may set aside or replace all or part of it with an order if it would order something different applying the s. 150 factors.

Enforcement tools

The director must have ICBC disregard a licence notice in specified cases, such as a material error or a satisfactory payment arrangement. If you are a payor facing arrears, raising a payment arrangement early matters.

Things enforcement does not change

• Parenting time and support are separate. A paying parent cannot withhold support over contact issues, and a parent cannot refuse parenting time because support is behind.
• Parents cannot agree that one of them will not pay child support, because support is the child's legal right.
• If your income has changed, a court may change, suspend or terminate the order on application.
• To change, suspend or terminate a support order under the Family Law Act, the court must be satisfied of a change in circumstances under the guidelines, substantial new evidence unavailable at the earlier hearing, or evidence of a lack of financial disclosure discovered after the last order.
• The BC Child Support Recalculation Service reviews eligible orders and agreements each year, adjusting support using the paying parent's income tax information and the Guidelines tables, so a court application is not always needed.
• Child support paid under an order or agreement made after April 1997 is not deductible by the payer and does not have to be included in the recipient's income, although older orders and agreements can be treated differently.

What to do next

• Gather your signed order or agreement, and confirm an agreement has been filed with the court registry.
• Choose how to get the enrolment package: online, phone, download or in person.
• Keep records of payments made and missed so arrears can be checked.
• If you are the payor and cannot pay, get advice early about changing the order rather than simply stopping payment.
• Ask a lawyer about your own situation, especially if arrears are large or an agreement was never filed.

Frequently asked questions