The Family Responsibility Office

Introduction
In 1997, most of the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act took effect, replacing the old Family Support Plan Act. The new Act created the Family Responsibility Office (the "FRO") which administers and enforces family support payments in Ontario.

Enforcement Powers
A payor has a legal responsibility to pay support. The FRO will take all necessary steps to enforce support orders and to collect support arrears for those agreements or Orders filed with the FRO.

The FRO can collect money directly from the payor, from the payor's income source or sources by filing a lien against the payor's personal property or real estate, or any combination of these sources.

The new Act gives the FRO the following enforcement powers:
• The FRO may now report a payor in arrears to a credit bureau to make it more difficult for them to obtain loans or other credit while they owe family support. The report will stay on the payor's credit rating for seven years.
• There is a wider definition of "income source". This means that cash advances, commissions, severance and lump sum payments will be considered income for the payor, and support must be deducted from this income where the income source has been served with a support deduction notice.
• The FRO has increased capability to get financial information about the payor. Computer access to all government records of payors will now be available to help in tracing and locating the defaulting parent.
• The FRO has the power to register support orders under the Personal Property Security Act, claiming a lien against the payor's assets. If a payor's asset is sold, the child support order will be given priority over other interests in the sale of the payor's personal property.
• Applicants for provincially appointed positions will be screened to ensure that they do not owe child support arrears.
• The FRO may suspend a defaulting payor's driver's licence. A payor who is in default on support payments may be served with a "First Notice", which announces that the FRO intends to suspend the payor's driver's licence within 30 days. The threat of losing their driver's licences may convince some defaulting payors to pay the support they owe. To avoid suspension, they may pay the arrears in full or arrange for a repayment plan which must be approved by the FRO. Payors who have received a First Notice also have the option of going to court to get an order requiring the FRO to refrain from suspending their driver's licence and to get the support order varied. If the payor goes to court, he or she must convince the judge that there was a valid reason for not paying. If they do none of these things, the Ministry of Transportation will suspend their driver's licence. The licence can only be reinstated if arrears are paid or a repayment plan approved by the FRO is made. The Ministry of Transportation will charge a $100 fee to reinstate driver's licences suspended under this law.

Other enforcement tools which will be proclaimed at a later date include:
• New power for the court to make an order against a third party where the court finds that the third party is involved in sheltering the payor's assets or income;
• Power to garnishee up to 50% of funds held in a joint bank account with a defaulting payor for the payment of support arrears; and
• Power to deduct arrears owed under a support order from lottery winnings if the payor wins a prize of more than $1,000.

What can the FRO do?
• The FRO is required by law to enforce the Court Orders that the courts send to the FRO and the domestic contracts and paternity agreements that the parties file with the FRO.
• The FRO may collect money directly from the payor, from the payor's income source(s), by filing a lien against the payor's personal property or real estate, or any combination of these sources. When FRO receives the money, it sends the payment to the person to whom it is owed.
• When the court makes a "Support Order", it also makes a "Support Deduction Order". The support payor or support recipient, or someone acting on behalf of the payor or recipient, like a lawyer, is responsible for sending the Support Order to the FRO, which then issues a Support Deduction Notice to the known income source(s). The income source has a legal obligation to make the deductions and send the money to the FRO for payment of support.

What the FRO Cannot do:
• The FRO does not operate like a payroll system. It operates like a trust fund, where support payments are accepted by the Director of the FRO. All payments accepted are applied to individual cases. Money has to be deposited by or on behalf of a payor in order for funds to be paid out to the support recipient. The money must come to the FRO from the payor or the payor's income source. The FRO cannot guarantee that it will receive funds from the enforcement actions it takes. The FRO can only send money to recipients after it receives it.
• The FRO cannot change a court order, domestic contract or paternity agreement in any way. Only the court can change a court order, and both the payor and recipient must agree to changes to a domestic contract or paternity agreement.
• The FRO cannot determine when the support obligation ends unless a specific calendar date for termination, for example, January 1, 1998, is stated in the Court Order or Agreement.
• The FRO is a neutral government enforcement agency and cannot give legal advice.
• The FRO cannot become involved in child access or visitation issues. Access and visitation are private legal matters.
• The FRO doesn't issue year-end statements, since Revenue Canada doesn't accept them as official tax receipts. It is important for recipients and payors to keep records of support payments received or paid.

Obligations of the Support Recipient
If you are to receive support payments under a court order, you have the obligation to:
• Notify the FRO of any address changes and any information that can help them collect the support payments;
• Inform the FRO when any support obligations set out in the support order have been changed that affect the amount of support;
• Never accept direct support payments from the payor.

Obligations of the Support Payor
A support payor has an obligation to:
• Make support payments directly to the FRO until the employer starts making the regular deductions. The payor must pay direct payments to the FRO even during any interruptions of employment such as strike or layoff;
• Notify the FRO of any change, interruption or termination in employment within 10 days and give the FRO a new employer's name and address;
• Notify the FRO of any change of home address within 10 days;
• Once the Support Deduction Order is received by the FRO and you are notified, you must make support payments directly to the FRO - not to the recipient or children. They will then forward the payments to the recipient. If the payment is not sent to the FRO, they will assume you have missed a payment and commence enforcement proceedings;
• You are required to inform the FRO of any change in address or change of employment status.
There are penalties for failure to comply that could result in a fine of up to a maximum of $10,000.00.

Withdrawing from the FRO:
If the support payor and the support recipient agree, they may "opt-out" of the enforcement program provided by the FRO. In order to do this, both the payor and the recipient must fill out a withdrawal form.

However, there are certain circumstances when it may not be possible to withdraw an order or agreement from the FRO.
• A judge may make an order which states that the support order cannot be withdrawn from the FRO
• When support collection is assigned to the Ministry of Community and Social Services while the support recipient is collecting General Welfare or Family Benefits. If the support has been, or is currently assigned, the Ministry of Community and Social Services may be owed money, and therefore may object to the payor and recipient opting out of the FRO. If the support has ever been assigned, it is therefore a good idea to check with the Ministry of Community and Social Services before attempting to withdraw.

Contacting the FRO
If you need to contact the FRO, you may do so by a number of methods.
• For basic information on your case, such as the date of last payment, use the automated telephone line, which is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. Call toll-free 1-800-267-7263 and have your case # ready.
• To speak to a Client Services Associate between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday, call toll-free 1-800-267-4330.

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