It does not act as your lawyer. The programme does not provide legal representation or advice.
What to Do When a Parent Refuses to Pay Child Support in Calgary
photo — parent reviewing paperwork at home (4:3)
Alberta's Maintenance Enforcement Program collects support under an eligible court order or agreement. Either the payer or recipient can register; only one needs to do so.
First, Check What the Order or Agreement Says
The programme enforces child support set by a court order, or set in an agreement that has been filed with the court. An informal arrangement between parents generally has to be put into an order or a filed agreement before it can be enforced.
- 1
Check whether there is a court order or a filed agreement, and find your copy of it.
- 2
Check what amount it sets, and on what schedule the payments fall due.
- 3
Check what is owed and since when, working from the payment dates the order or the agreement sets.
Those three answers decide whether the programme can act, and they are the information the programme asks for at registration.
Registering With the Maintenance Enforcement Program
To register with the Maintenance Enforcement Program:
- 1
Either parent registers. The parent who pays and the parent who receives the support may each open a file with the programme.
- 2
Register online or by mail. The programme takes a registration request together with a direct deposit form or an authorised bank withdrawal form.
- 3
File an affidavit of arrears where amounts are already owed. This step is optional, and it records the amounts that have gone unpaid.
- 4
Receive a file number. The programme issues a file number and notifies the other party that the file is open.
- 5
Pay and receive through the programme. From that point the payments go through the programme rather than directly between the parents.
A first registration is free. A re-registration fee applies where a person previously withdrew from the programme, or where a file was closed for non-compliance, and that fee is set by the programme.
A parent who lives outside Alberta registers with their own province's programme, or contacts the Alberta programme.
current Maintenance Enforcement Program registration instructions›
What the Programme Can Do
The programme decides which enforcement actions to take and when.
Available enforcement actions include the following. The program chooses which actions to use; this is not an automatic sequence.
Money at source
- 1
Federal Support Deduction Notice, which directs federal money payable to the payor to the programme.
- 2
Wage Support Deduction Notice, served on an employer to deduct support from wages.
- 3
Non-Wage Support Deduction Notice, served on another party that holds money for the payor.
Registrations and restrictions
- 1
Registration at the Land Titles Office, which attaches to land the payor owns.
- 2
Writ at the Personal Property Registry, which is registered against the payor's personal property.
- 3
Credit bureau reporting, which reports the file to a credit bureau.
- 4
Driver's licence suspension.
- 5
Motor vehicle restriction.
- 6
Recreational hunting and fishing licence restriction.
- 7
Federal Licence Denial, which applies to federal licences.
- 8
Reporting to professional organizations.
Court steps
- 1
Financial examination, at which the payor answers about income and assets.
- 2
Default hearing, at which the court deals with the default.
- 3
Seizure and sale of personal property or assets.
- 4
Seizure and sale of third-party assets or income.
- 5
Forced sale of real property.
What the Programme Does Not Do
The programme collects and enforces support, and two limits on what it does decide when a parent needs a lawyer instead.
It cannot change the amount. The programme collects the amount that the order or the filed agreement sets. Only a new agreement between the parents, or a court, can change that amount.
Both limits point the same way. The order or the agreement behind the payments is legal work, and the programme handles the collection.
Arrears, and Changing the Amount
Arrears. Arrears are the amounts already owed and unpaid under the order or the filed agreement. They do not disappear because circumstances changed, and the programme can enforce them along with the payments that fall due from now on.
Changing the amount. Changing what is payable going forward is a separate step from collecting what is owed, and it is made by agreement between the parents or by application to a court.
A parent who cannot pay should not simply stop paying, because the amount set stays payable until it is changed. How child support is calculated is set out on the child support page.
When It Is Not About Money
Child support and parenting time are enforced separately, and the programme collects support under the order or the filed agreement.
Withholding one because of the other is not a remedy.
A parent who is owed support still has to follow the parenting terms, and a parent who is not seeing the child still has to pay the support that the order sets.
When to Talk to a Lawyer
Situations in which to get advice:
- 1
No court order or filed agreement exists, so there is nothing for the programme to enforce yet.
- 2
The paying parent's income is disputed or hidden.
- 3
The amount needs changing going forward, by agreement or by court application.
- 4
An enforcement step has been taken against you and you want to understand what it means.
Frequently Asked Questions
A parent who does not pay owes the amount the order or the filed agreement sets, and the unpaid amount becomes arrears. In Alberta, either parent can register the file with the Maintenance Enforcement Program, which then collects the payments and enforces the arrears.
Imprisonment is possible, but it arises at a default hearing under the Maintenance Enforcement Act (Alberta). The statute caps it at 90 days, continuous or intermittent (s.30(1)(i) and (j)), and it is not available where the court is satisfied the payor is unable to pay. Serving it does not discharge the arrears (s.30(4)).
Talk to a Calgary Family Lawyer
A Calgary family lawyer advises on the part of this that the programme does not handle, which is the order or the agreement behind the payments.