Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders

Enforcement of child maintenance orders abroad 

Maintenance orders made by a Jersey Court are able to be enforced in countries such as England, Scotland, Portugal, Poland, Australia, and Italy. Likewise, maintenance orders made in those countries can be enforced in Jersey.

See Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) (Jersey) Law 2000   

The law and the accompanying rules set out procedures for the enforcement of maintenance orders made in Jersey and Commonwealth countries. In addition, there are procedures for enforcing maintenance orders in countries and territories that are parties to the 1956 United Nations New York Convention and 1973 Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions relating to Maintenance obligations. France, Portugal, and Poland are parties to this convention, as are many of the states within the United States of America.

There are also procedures for enforcing maintenance orders made in Jersey and countries and territories that are convention countries under the UN Convention on the Recovery Abroad of Maintenance. These include Australia, France, Poland and Portugal.

Payment of money for the maintenance of a child may also include payment for a child’s education.

Procedural guidance in respect of making an application for enforcement can be obtained from the Family Proceedings Officers, Family Division

For enforcement in England of Jersey Maintenance orders you will need to provide the Registrar, Family Division with the following:-

1. A schedule of payments and the date, if any, when the last payment of maintenance was made. You may be asked for documentary evidence, such as bank statements showing the last payment date.
2. A copy of the order which will then be certified by the Court.
3. An affidavit sworn by you setting out as much of the following information as you can:-
   1. your financial circumstances
   2. the full name and address of the non-payer
   3. the non-payer’s financial circumstances, including the name and address of any employer of the respondent, his occupation, his telephone number, his description and, if possible, a photograph
   4. the date and place of issue of any passport of the non-payer,
   5. and any other financial circumstances that may be relevant
4. name and address, including any bank details as to where the payments should be sent

Marriage certificate (if applicable) and birth certificates of the child or children (certified copies are acceptable)

Please note that the reciprocal enforcement procedure simply permits the Jersey court to transmit your claim for maintenance to the receiving agency in the other Convention country where under the machinery which the Convention establishes " all appropriate steps for the recovery of the maintenance including the settlement of the claim and, and where necessary, the institution and prosecution of an action for maintenance or any order or other judicial act for the payment of maintenance" are required to be taken by the receiving agency.

The Jersey court has no authority over the receiving agency as to the timeframe or the steps taken in the Convention country for the recovery of your maintenance claim. 

Draft affidavit