You cannot make a new application to the Child Maintenance Service if the child and the parent with the main day-to-day care live abroad. There are circumstances where the service can help if the paying parent lives abroad.
You can make a private child maintenance arrangement yourself – if one or both parents live abroad.
Enforcing a Child Maintenance Decision
If the other parent does not pay for the child maintenance, you can go to court for the help. This action is known as enforcement action.
You cannot enforce a private child maintenance arrangement you’ve made yourself – you need to make it legally binding first. You can also ask the court to change an existing child maintenance decision or make a new one.
Enforcing, changing and making a new decision totally depends on the following mentioned points:
- Where the other parent lives
- Where your original decision was made
- The UK has an agreement with the other countries called Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO) agreement. In ‘REMO countries’, courts can enforce child maintenance decisions.
If the other parent lives Abroad
The process of getting a child maintenance decision totally depends on whether the other parent lives in that REMO i.e, Reciprocal Enforcement of maintenance order country or not.
If the other parent does not live in a REMO country, get legal advice from a solicitor to find out if you can enforce the decision.
How to Apply?
You can contact the Maintenance Enforcement Business Centre (MEBC) by email or post if the other parent lives in REMO country.
The MEBC will ask you some questions to verify if you’re eligible or not. If you are eligible then they’ll send you an application form and supporting guidance on how to apply.
Depending on your situation, you may need to attend a court hearing in the UK or pay a court fee. Tell the MEBC if you do not want the other parent to know about your information like your address and all. Fill the form and send it back to them.
After you Apply
When You complete an application, it will be sent to the court in the country the other parent lives in. The foreign court will then decide if child maintenance should be paid or not depending upon your filed application. They can also decide whether to enforce payment.
Contact the Maintenance Enforcement Business Centre (MEBC)
When you contact the MEBC tell them your:
- Full name
- Email address
- Telephone number
- Case reference number, if you have one
- the country you live in
- the country the other parent lives in
Don’t miss out! Check our previously published article on When do i Stop Paying Child Maintenance?
IF YOU LIVE IN ABROAD
You can still enforce a child maintenance decision if the other parent lives in the UK but you live in another country.
Firstly you should check if you live in a country which can enforce a child maintenance decision made by the UK government.
If the other parent works abroad for a British organization
You might be able to make a new child maintenance claim instead of enforcing an existing one if the other parent is working abroad for certain British organizations, for example:
- as a civil servant
- for His Majesty’s Diplomatic Service
- as a member of the armed forces
- for a company based and registered in the UK
- for the NHS
- for a local authority
HOW TO CLAIM
You cannot directly apply to the Child Maintenance Service. You must get a reference number first by using Get help arranging child maintenance service. By using get help arranging child maintenance services you can also find out your various parameters for paying or receiving support for your child.
MAKING CHILD ARRANGEMENTS
There is an option available ‘how to make arrangements. You can choose this option for looking after your children if you separate from your partner.
You and the other parent can generally ignore the process of going to court hearings if you both agree on the following given points.
- where the children will live
- how much time they’ll spend with each parent
- how you’ll financially support your children
- You can use any trusted legal advisor if you want to make your agreement legally binding.
You can agree on child maintenance at the same time or separately to each other.
GET HELP AGREEING
You can make a Parenting Plan with your other parent (ex).You can also use a negotiator or can get other help to reach an agreement.
You can also get help and information from:
- Citizens Advice
- Advice Now
IF YOU CANNOT AGREE ON EVERYTHING
If you can’t agree on everything then you can ask a court to decide anything you cannot agree. Then court will arrange a conversation with the other parent and try to make a meeting including you. If you have abusive partner, there is no need to go in that meeting.
Some Frequently asked questions
So if you agree for child maintenance then you do not have to do any official paperwork if you agree about child arrangements. You can replace all paperwork by writing down what you’ve agreed in a Parenting Plan. And if you want to make your agreement legally binding, a legal advisor can help with the paperwork.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that the entire article is based on the discussion of child maintenance services like what to do if any of the parents live abroad, not agreeing with each Basically, there is lot of process that you have to go through while filing a child support. But you don’t need to worry because Child Maintenance Service will provide you their best help in quick time.
