The Role of the Family Responsibility Office in Ontario
The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) is an Ontario provincial agency that plays a critical role in enforcing spousal and child support orders. By ensuring that support recipients receive the payments they're entitled to, the FRO contributes significantly to the stability of families following separation or divorce.
What Does the Family Responsibility Office Do?
The FRO is responsible for assisting individuals in the collection of spousal and child support orders. This includes the costs associated with a support order. All support orders created in Ontario, whether temporary or final, are automatically registered for enforcement by the FRO. However, parties involved have the right to withdraw their consent.
Furthermore, any domestic contract for support can be filed with the Ontario Court of Justice for enforcement by the FRO according to Section 35 of the Family Law Act (FLA). This underlines the FRO's exclusive enforcement powers.
It's important to note that while a support order or agreement is with the FRO, the support recipient cannot take independent enforcement action. Also, the FRO doesn't have the authority to deal with other types of orders, such as an equalization payment order.
The Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996
This Act empowers the Director of the FRO to employ any necessary enforcement method to collect outstanding support orders. These methods can be those detailed in the Act or in other statutes. While the Director can't compromise a support recipient's claim, they do have discretion over the timing and means of enforcement.
There are certain circumstances in which a Director may choose not to enforce a support order. These include if the support amount is nominal, if it cannot be determined from the order because it's expressed as a percentage of income, or if the order is unclear or ambiguous.
Furthermore, the Director will not enforce cost of living clauses unless they're calculated in accordance with the Consumer Price Index for Canada for prices of all items, as prepared by Statistics Canada.
Once a support obligation has terminated, the Director stops enforcement. If there's a dispute about the termination, the parties must obtain a court order to resolve it.
Support Deduction Order
When a court grants a support award or a domestic contract is filed as an order with the court, a support deduction order (SDO) is issued. An SDO allows the Director to require an income source to remit funds owed to the support payor to the FRO on account of the support obligation.
Income sources include an employer or other individual who owes payments to the support payor such as salary, pensions, annuities, shareholder loans or dividends, and income tax refunds. The deduction is limited to 50% of the support payor's net income after the deduction of income tax, Canada Pension Plan, employment insurance, and union dues.
Under certain circumstances, up to 100% of specific payments, including income tax refunds or other lump-sum payments attachable under federal enforcement legislation, may be deducted and paid to the Director.
Opt in/Opt out
The parties involved can consent to opt out of enforcement by the Director by filing a notice of withdrawal executed by both parties with the FRO. A recipient may choose to opt back into enforcement by the Director at a later time. Some of the enforcement options available under the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act to the Director are not available to a recipient seeking to enforce a support order personally.
Suspension of an SDO
A court can suspend the operation of an SDO on limited grounds only if it would be unconscionable considering all the circumstances for the support to be paid by means of the SDO, or if the parties agree that they do not want the SDO to apply and the support payor posts adequate security. The suspension of an SDO does not affect the support order.
Understanding the FRO's role and responsibilities is essential for both support recipients and payors. Navigating these processes can be complex, and it may be beneficial to seek professional legal advice to ensure compliance and protect your rights.
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