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THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday October 13, 2000 Power of Family Responsibility Office often a surprise LESLIE J. SMITH The Law of life Those of you who are receiving or paying child and/or spousal support are most likely familiar with the Family Responsibility Office (FRO). You may not be aware, however, of all the ways in which this office can impact your life, particularly as a payer. In 19%, the FRO centralized into one office in Downsview, Ont., which appar ently handles 172,000 files for the entire province. The office itself was created by several pieces of legislation from which it draws its enforcement powers. The most recent legislation, proclaimed in 1997, is the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act (FRSAEA). All court support orders are registered with the FRO. Not every separation agreement, however, is registered, but can be utilizing the Family Law Act. There is also provision to withdraw from the FRO if the parties want to. So, what are the advantages of utiliz ing the FRO? Quite simply, the FRO is in the busi ness of enforcing support orders and, judging by the statistics, it is doing a good job. The FRO offers a secure procedure to ensure that support is collected and paid as ordered. The most commonly known procedure is garnishment of wages. The FRO will send a support deduction notice to the payer. The payer's employ er (or other regular income sources) then deducts the support payment from the payer's wages and remits it directly to the FRO. Often, the payment is then elec tronically deposited into the receiver's bank account. When the FRO does not receive a payment as scheduled (for whatever rea son), it uses a variety of enforcement tac tics beginning with a "voluntary arrears payment schedule". This permits the payer to deal with arrears at the same time as current pay ments. If that doesn't produce any results, the FRO may put a writ on prop erty owned by the payer. Further, the FRO can also request the federal government to intercept any pay ment owing to the payer. This typically includes income tax refunds, GST credits or CPP payment. The FRO will sometimes forward the payer's name to the credit bureau. The FRO may also issue a writ of seizure and sale and register it with the Sheriff. When the payer tries to sell any thing, the director of the FRO can thus stop the sale until the arrears are addressed. We see this frequently in real estate transactions. Section 42 of the FRSAEA also allows the FRO to register the support order against title of the payer's property even when there are no arrears. In that instance, the support order acts like a mortgage title. IF a not-in-default payer wasn't to have the FRO's "mortgage" lifted, he/she will be asked to give secu rity for future payments. The FRO may also online-register the support order with the Personal Property Securities Act registry which alerts potential creditors of the outstanding support obligation or arrears. Where the payer is self-employed and in arrears, the FRO. will utilize more direct methods of enforcements as there is no employer to garnish wages. In these situations, the FRO will issue a notice of default hearing which brings the payer to court. Enforcement can include a com mittal to jail for up to 90 days. There are additional remedies avail able to those receiving support orders. Contact a lawyer practising family law for more information. Lawyer Leslie J. Smith is with the Haxell/Smith Law Office in Oakville. Her column appears regularly in the Oakville Beaver. Pre-Construction Prices in Effect Until November 1st! 50% Reserved - Don't Miss Out You've retired from work n o t life, you w ant to live w here you can enjoy an active ad u lt lifestyle. 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B o o k 'e m e a r ly a n d S a v e up to $ 3 0 0 * on q u a lity, C a n a d ia n -m a d e D u ffe rin G a m e s b illia rd ta b le s ! SALE G reat selection o f dining room furniture, styles ranging from Traditional C hippendale to Casual Country. Solid M aple Louts Phillippe style table and 6 dxriis storting a t *21 99 Matching Buffet + Hutch avail. SEARSCORRECTION In various Sears retail advertisements in effect between Oct. 9-0ct. 22,2000, incorrect pricing has been shown. Correct prices are as follows: Hitachi DVD player #3 0 92 4 Reg. 329.99 Sale 308.00; RCA DVD player #30921 Reg. 3 59.99 Sale 348.00; RCA mini system #2 0 50 0 Reg. 159.99 Sale 138.00 AN MUST COMPARE BEFORE YOU BUY! Custom Sofa Sale FROM 3TGreat quality consfrudion 3fStyles traditional to country STFabric Choice Sf Leather Sofa & Loveseats s899 In our 72 page Sears Day Flyer (C102F500) (Sale Dales: O ct 9 -2 2 ,2 0 0 0 ) Page 25 Graco Baby Swing not as illustrated. Page 59 Century Heating Gas Fireplace Inserts (#63280/290) will not be available for immediate shipping. Mapleview Centre (9 0 5 ) 33 3 -2 7 5 7 A ll V u fftri* , C jtuvM b iU U rd U b lu a r t p ro u d ly m ju U ik & p f T A m i f i i p r x ESTABLISHED i1977 4205 C jju J ju! In our Sears Days Furniture & Furniture / Appliance Flyer (Sales Dates: O ct 9 -2 2 ,2 0 0 0 ) Integrated Coil Series 1515SS Comfort Sleep Sets have been incorrectly advertised. Correct Sleep Set should be Simmons Beautysleep Embassy. We sincerely regret any inconvenience this may have caused our customers. 'S e le c t m odels only. Insta llation of tab le m ust o c c u r by N ovem ber 15.2000. Sale ends store closin g O ctober 31,2000. See store asso ciate fo r fu ll details. Bringing Family and Friends into Play! games.coi Best V a lu e s Since 1977 Beside Harvey's 4205 Fairview St. Burlington Fairview St. 634-5298 Mon.-Thurs-. & Sat. 10:00-5:30; Fri. 10:00.-9:00; Sun. 12-4