Can Support Arrears Be Reduced or Forgiven in Manitoba?

Falling behind on support can happen quickly after a job loss or illness, and the total can grow faster than you expect. If you are the payer, you may wonder whether arrears can ever be reduced. If you are the recipient and someone has asked you to settle, you need to know what that really means.

This article explains who has the power to change arrears in Manitoba, what a payer must be ready to show, and why the Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP) cannot simply wipe them out.

This article covers the law of Manitoba.

Who can change arrears: a judge, not MEP

MEP receives and monitors payments and acts on arrears. It cannot guarantee payment or change an order's payment terms. Cancelling arrears or reducing payments generally needs a variation application to a judge, with notice to the recipient. The exception is adult-child cases, where a child status review can be requested and, if both parties agree, an approved form can change the enforced amount.

This is why an informal promise between the two of you does not change what is on the file. Changes to the enforced amount go through a judge or, in adult-child cases, through an approved form that both parties agree to.

Manitoba's Family Maintenance Act was repealed on July 1, 2023 and replaced by The Family Law Act and The Family Support Enforcement Act, and orders made under the old Act stay in force. If your order is older, it may still be the one being enforced today.

Pausing enforcement is different from forgiving debt

MEP can administratively suspend enforcement in whole or part on the payor's written request. That can ease pressure, but a payor who wants arrears cancelled or payments lowered must still apply to a judge for a variation.

How MEP collects while arrears stand

MEP first works with the payor to get voluntary payment. If payments are not received as required, enforcement action could be taken, and the director chooses which action fits each case. The tools include:

• A support deduction notice (garnishment), MPI licence or registration suspension, and federal passport or licence suspension.
• Credit bureau reporting and seizure of personal property.
• Liens on land and personal property, a notice to appear, and a summons to court.

A support deduction notice can be sent to an employer, who must complete the response form, remit the amounts to the director and give the payor a copy within seven days after service, without charging a fee. The Family Support Enforcement Act exempts $250 each month (or any greater amount prescribed) of wages and pension benefits from a notice.

Changing jobs does not necessarily end this. The employer must notify the director if it stops employing the payor, and a notice can be served on a new employer or another source of income. A payor without an employer can still be reached, because a notice can reach almost any income or money asset, and a notice to a bank or credit union may freeze the account.

What a payer should be ready to show

At a court enforcement hearing, the payor must show they did not wilfully fail to pay. The court may order arrears paid in full or by instalments, fine up to $10,000, and/or jail up to 200 days, and fines or jail do not erase the arrears.

For spousal support under The Family Law Act, an order may be varied, suspended or terminated on a change in circumstances. The detailed test a judge applies to cancel past arrears depends on the order and the facts, and a lawyer can explain how it applies to you.

• Records of your income before and after the change.
• Proof of job loss, illness or other reasons you could not pay.
• A record of any payments you did make.
• Your efforts to find work or other income.

Family cases in the Court of King's Bench, Family Division, generally involve filing the court document, serving the other party and completing prerequisites such as financial statements. Exactly which steps apply to a variation depends on your case, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

If you are the recipient and are asked to settle

You can talk about a compromise, but a private deal does not change the order or MEP's file. A judge can cancel or reduce arrears on a variation application, with notice to you, and in adult-child cases an approved form that both parties agree to can change the enforced amount. Before agreeing to accept less, get legal advice, because what you agree to may be hard to undo.

You also cannot rely on MEP to disclose the payer's address, phone number or employment details. If the payer is working, MEP's tools include a support deduction notice, which binds wages that are or become due.

Enrolling in MEP is optional unless you receive social assistance and assigned payments to it, and recipients on social assistance cannot opt out. If you are not in MEP, a lawyer can explain private enforcement, which is more limited.

What to do next

Contact MEP at 204-945-7133 or 1-866-479-2717 about your balance and enforcement, or by email at ManitobaMEPInquiries@gov.mb.ca with your full name and file number.

• Get a current statement of the arrears from MEP.
• Gather proof of your income and your reasons for falling behind.
• Keep paying what you can while a variation is pending.
• Do not sign a private settlement before getting legal advice.
• Ask a lawyer whether a variation application makes sense.

Frequently asked questions