Can I make child support payments directly to my spouse, or must I pay the Family Responsibility Office?

Whether or not you are obligated to make your child support payments through the Family Responsibility Office will depend on the cooperation of the party receiving the support. If the recipient agrees to not have the payments proceed through the Family Responsibility Office, then child support payments are allowed to be made directly to the recipient. This will typically be the case when parties have arrived at a resolution of their matter via negotiation and the ultimate execution of a separation agreement.  There will often be a clause in the separation agreement providing that the payor will pay directly to the recipient and not to the Family Responsibility Office. In addition, there will often be a term in the separation agreement that stipulates that if the payor defaults on his or her payment for a specified amount of days, then the recipient can take the steps to notify the Family Responsibility Office of the default and the Family Responsibility Office can then commence enforcement of the separation agreement.

In the event that both parties agree to proceed in this way, they will proceed by completing and signing a Notice of Withdrawal which is then provided to the Family Responsibility Office. If the Notice of Withdrawal has not been completed, or has yet to be filed with the Family Responsibility Office, the Family Responsibility Office will continue to enforce the support payments.

To learn more about the Family Responsibility Office, and the enforcement of support orders and/or agreements, call 905.707.3370 to schedule a consultation with one of our Toronto divorce lawyers.