Can New Brunswick Suspend Your Licence or Passport for Unpaid Support?

Falling behind on child or spousal support can feel like a private problem, but in New Brunswick there is a government office whose job is to collect it. If you pay support, it helps to know what can happen and when. If you receive support, it helps to know what the office can do for you.

This article explains how support orders reach the Office of Support Enforcement (OSE), what tools it can use as arrears grow, and what the Court can do separately. It is general information, not advice on your situation.

This article covers the law of New Brunswick.

How a support order gets to the OSE

Support orders made in New Brunswick are automatically filed with the Office of Support Enforcement. The person who receives support has eight days after the enrolment documents are sent to opt out and receive payments directly.

If you are not enrolled, you can opt in at any time by submitting a Notice to File Support Order form and a Client Information form. Either side can withdraw using the Application To Withdraw from OSE form.

Between spouses, the Family Law Act sets out a basic obligation: every spouse has an obligation to provide support for themselves and for their spouse, in accordance with need, to the extent they are capable of doing so. That obligation also reaches common-law partners who have cohabited continuously for at least three years with one substantially dependent on the other, or who have cohabited in a relationship of some permanence and are the parents of a child. Child support follows a separate framework: under the Federal Child Support Guidelines, the presumptive rule is the table amount for the number of children and the paying parent's province of residence and income, plus any special or extraordinary expenses.

When child support and spousal support are both claimed in a divorce proceeding, the court must give priority to child support.

The OSE's tools, from first steps to serious ones

The tools escalate the longer support goes unpaid. The ones that depend on how long or how much is owing are shown below.

So yes, a driver's licence can be suspended and a passport can be restricted, but these are later steps tied to the length or size of the arrears.

In plain terms, the earlier steps are meant to get payments moving again before the more disruptive ones come into play. How quickly any of this happens in a particular file depends on the facts, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

Joint accounts and other money that can be reached

Garnishment is not limited to wages. Pensions, tax refunds, GST credits and bank accounts can be garnished, and that includes joint accounts. If you share an account with a new partner or family member, they could be affected, so it is worth knowing before arrears build up.

If you are the person owed support, this is also the practical side of enrolment: the office, rather than you, takes the steps to collect. If you are the person paying, regular payments are the simplest way to avoid reaching these steps at all.

What the Court can do as well

Apart from the OSE, a certificate filed with the Court becomes a judgment of the Court and may be enforced as one. The Court can also make orders to prevent the disposition or wasting of assets that would defeat a support order.

This matters if someone is moving or hiding assets to avoid paying. A lawyer can explain whether this kind of order fits your circumstances.

Court enforcement and OSE enforcement are separate routes. Which one makes sense, or whether both are useful, depends on the order, the amount owing and what information you have about the other person's income and assets.

What to do next

The most useful thing you can do is act early and keep good records. A short list of practical steps follows.

• If you are behind, gather your order, payment records and recent income information before you do anything else.
• Contact the OSE or a lawyer early, rather than waiting until a licence or passport step is reached.
• If your income has changed, ask a lawyer whether the order can be reviewed instead of letting arrears grow.
• If you receive support and are not enrolled, consider opting in using the Notice to File Support Order and Client Information forms.
• If you receive support and live outside New Brunswick, contact the support enforcement program where you live.
• Remember either party can apply to withdraw from OSE using the Application To Withdraw from OSE form.

Frequently asked questions