Family Responsibility Office: How Support Enforcement Works in Ontario

Unpaid support is stressful on both sides. A parent who is owed money wants it paid reliably, and a payor who has fallen behind wants to know what can happen and how to fix it.

This article explains in general terms where support enforcement fits in Ontario family law and what practical steps help. The details of what the Family Responsibility Office can do in a particular file, and how arrears are calculated, depend on your order and your payment history, so confirm them with the office or a lawyer.

Where enforcement fits

A support order or written agreement sets what is owed. Enforcement is a separate step that deals with what happens when payments are missed. The Ontario Court of Justice hears support enforcement, as well as parenting and child and spousal support claims. The Superior Court of Justice also hears child and spousal support.

If you are owed support, keep your own records of what was due and what was received. If you owe support, keep proof of every payment you make. Good records make it much easier to sort out a disagreement about arrears.

If you are owed support

• Find your order or agreement and check the amount and payment dates.
• Keep a record of missed or partial payments.
• Contact the Family Responsibility Office to ask how enforcement works on your file.
• Speak to a lawyer if the order is unclear or you think the amount is wrong.
• Contact a Family Law Information Centre at your family court for information on court processes.

If safety is a concern, the Victim Support Line is 1-888-579-2888.

If you owe support and cannot pay

If your circumstances have changed, it is worth acting early rather than waiting, and a motion to change a final order for child or spousal support only is one route that may be open to you, with no Mandatory Information Program required for it. How a change in your circumstances affects an existing support order depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

For child support, either spouse may ask the court to award an amount different from the Guidelines amount if the spouse or child would otherwise suffer undue hardship. The circumstances listed include unusually high debts reasonably incurred to support the spouses and children before separation or to earn a living, and unusually high expenses for exercising parenting time.

They also include a legal duty under a judgment, order or written separation agreement to support any person, a legal duty to support another child who is not a child of the marriage, or a legal duty to support someone who cannot obtain the necessaries of life because of illness or disability.

There is an important limit. The court must deny the claim if the claimant's household would have a higher standard of living than the other spouse's household after child support is set. The court may compare the households using the test in Schedule II of the Guidelines.

Changing an order and the court process

A court may set a reasonable time for the hardship-causing obligation to be satisfied and the amount payable after that time, and it must record its reasons for a different amount.

If you are asking to change a final order for child or spousal support only, you do not have to attend the Mandatory Information Program. A support claim also needs a financial statement, which is Form 13. In general, you start the case in the municipality where you or your spouse lives, though if parenting time or decision-making is involved, the children's municipality may apply.

What to do next

• Gather your order, agreement, financial records and payment proof.
• Contact the Family Responsibility Office to confirm the arrears on your file.
• Get legal advice before changing how much you pay or expect to receive.
• If your income or duties have changed, ask a lawyer whether to seek a change to the order.
• Consider mediation or negotiation, which are family dispute resolution processes outside court.

Frequently asked questions