Maintenance Arrears

fizzy cola

Hi I have just come from the district court where the Judge struck out all arrears cases as the high court has ruled that the legislation regading this is unconstitutional. Apparently we have to wait for new legislation to be passed before the cases will be seen.
Does any one have any information on this or can point me in the right direction to get this information?

Thanks in advance.

gav240

in the same-ish boat. have no job... so went back to college and am in arrears with maintainence. went to court judge pretty much told me to drop out of college and get a job (first time i've been outta work in 10 years ) but ajourned it until September because theres nothing he can do until new legislation is passed

fizzy cola

Hi gav240 do you know why the high court ruled it as unconstittional? My ex hasn't paid maintenance since January and the lady in the court office(who couldn't give me much information) hinted that they could only chase him for 26 weeks maintenance. Surely I won't lose out on what he owes me whilst they sort out the legislation?

gav240

my solicitor said that we we're the only country in europe to jail people for not paying debts but now we are starting to take our legisalation from europe so you cant be jailed for not paying a debt. this is what i think he said but i find legal mumbo jumbo hard to understand you could try sending the citizans advice bureau an e-mail. hope this helps

MariMel

hello Fizzy Cola
My sons father was sentenced to 3 months for maintenance arrears after a number of court dates where he was given time to pay up.
This warrant had to be returned to the issuing court from the gardai after it was ruled unconstitutional.
I went into the court a fortnight ago and was told that those arrears are now my responsiblity to claim through the small claims court and i had to get my own solicitor to do so. Which lord only knows ho wlong that might take.
He also owes another 8 weeks maintenance since and the court sent him a letter, but unfortunately in my case he has left the country so i have little or probably no chance to get ANY of my arrears back.....which at this stage is well over €2000.

I dont know why they wont see those cases.....its only unconstitutional if they havent been offered to pay in installments (my ex refused...wanted to pay in a lump sum) and also if the person does have the money and is just being an ass and refusing to pay.

Hopefully it will get sorted soon for you Fizzy.....but look into what my court office told me....that they wont go for the arrears even though a lot of them are for thepast 26 weeks, since they were ALL under the one court warrant.

fizzy cola

MariMel that's ridiculous having to go tot he small claims court. I have been in and out of court for the last 7 years with my ex for arrears and I have always represented myself. Looks like i will have to get a solicitor now which I really can't afford.

girltalk

Sorry to dishearten you on this one but in my experience if the father decides not to pay there is very little that anyone is prepared to do about it. My ex has not paid mainantence for 2 children in 8 yrs. Agreed in court 100 per wk, never saw 1 cent of it. Warrants were issued for his arrest and were never executed. Courts will not allow another order to be put out on him until the original warrant issued 7 years are executed, saying this is out of their hands now and in the hands of the Gardai. Having phoned pretty much every Garda station in Dublin at the time it seems the warrants missing, originals not even in the Bridewell where they are kept. Court says go back to Gardai, Gardai say no warrant, nothing they can do. That's were I was at 7 yrs ago and nothing has changed since. The system sucks

freedom of info

fizzy cola wrote: »

Hi I have just come from the district court where the Judge struck out all arrears cases as the high court has ruled that the legislation regading this is unconstitutional. Apparently we have to wait for new legislation to be passed before the cases will be seen.
Does any one have any information on this or can point me in the right direction to get this information?

Thanks in advance.

speaking from the other side, i havent paid any support for three years, not out of badness,but because i havn't a bean, my separation was bitter, the silly cow got my house, 30000 cash awarded 600 pm, i was left sofa surfing a failed business and in deep financial sh!t.

the family law act is biased to the extreme in favour of women, the last time i was hauled up,the judged listened, to my ex ratbag verbally abuse me, and then promptly struck out the entire case.

just for good measure, my ex remarried and is currently giving her husband dogs abuse, the fact is most men get the short end,

dermot_sheehan

Enforcement of Court Orders Act 2009 should be on books now
http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=12341&&CatID=59

which replaces the legislation on imprisonment for debt. It's still allowed if court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the failure to pay is wilful or deliberate and the defendant is eligible for legal aid. Also a person must be attached (i.e. brought before a judge) before being committed to prison so they have an opportunity to explain themselves.

Even if imprisonment is not available, garnishee of wages, sending out the sheriff and judgement mortgages can still be used to enforce maintenance arrears.

fizzy cola

Thanks for that gabhain7 I will give the district court a ring in the morning and see what's happening.

Girl talk that's terrible. i have been going through this for 7 years with my ex and there isn't a hope I'm letting him away with it. I've had to make a right nuisance of myself in the past to get people to act on bench warrants and what have you.

freedon of info I have to disagree with you I don't think the family law act is biased it's just a plain joke. If you can't afford to pay the €600 a month why don't you apply to have it reduced. This is what my ex did told the judge he could only afford to pay €40( which is a lie because I know he is working for cash in hand but could not prove it) and still refuses to pay that.

freedom of info

fizzy cola wrote: »

Thanks for that gabhain7 I will give the district court a ring in the morning and see what's happening.

Girl talk that's terrible. i have been going through this for 7 years with my ex and there isn't a hope I'm letting him away with it. I've had to make a right nuisance of myself in the past to get people to act on bench warrants and what have you.

freedon of info I have to disagree with you I don't think the family law act is biased it's just a plain joke. If you can't afford to pay the €600 a month why don't you apply to have it reduced. This is what my ex did told the judge he could only afford to pay €40( which is a lie because I know he is working for cash in hand but could not prove it) and still refuses to pay that.

i did, and it was overturned completely only when i proved without a shadow of a doubt that i was effectively bankrupt and that she had planned every dirty thing she could to discredit me, i still lost my house and had to fight hard to see my kids, i know i am not the only bloke who went through hell with a woman, i know directly at least a dozen cases of men getting stitched up, try seeing from our point of view, 44 years old living in a poxy flat with no hope of a decent future, while the ex ratbag remarries currently stitching her husband up for yet another pay day.

unknown to said toe rag, her husband and myself are quite friendly towards each other.

eightbal1

hi looking for logic here.i was with a woman who had three kids who lived with her husband and i was always under impression that this was normal so thought no more about it.eight months later said woman who turns out to be money grabbing lowlife tells me shes pregnant after i finish with her.jump forward my son is born before hes born i give her all the money she wants to get all the baby stuff as i would 100% look after my son .i tell her i will buy whatever my son needs on week to week basis (nappies food clothes etc ) and also give her 50 euro per week in case he needs something just as a back up amount.she says im being a greedy so and so and stops me seeing the child and takes me to court because her friends tell her to take me to cleaners cos i have couple of businneses.i have her telling me on dictaphone telling me she is using my son to get money from me but this was not admissable in court(what a joke).so in court she is awarded 80 per week total so i pay this until my son starts coming up sick underweight and unbelieveable nappy rash so i take matters into my own hands and start buying all his stuff again food napp sudo cream etc and stop giving her the money which she is clearly not spending on the little man(he is 2 and half now)contacted her husband who tells me that she walked out on the three kids when they were just infants to start seeing a sixty year old man she was 27 at time and abandonded them ,he gives me a letter for the judge stating she now only sees them 4 days per month and at that tries to send them home early and has no interest in them.with this information i go to the judge to plead my case and try get access of 3 to 4 nights per week but she says she couldnt bear to be without him for that length of time i bring up case of other kids and how often she sees them and im told that it is nothing to do with my son .for the judge it seems to be a case of pick and choose what kid u want which is a joke i had receipts totalling thousands for all sons stuff i had bought over last year but he didnt want to know.how can a father be treated so badly by judiciary when he has so much factual evidence on all thats going on and all he wants is to see his son more often. i welcome replies and opinions from male and female and insight into how a woman can treat her kids so differently because of money.by the way she is pregnant again with some other guy who has a business have tried to warn him but apparently he wants to learn the hard way

eightbal1

hi looking for logic here.i was with a woman who had three kids who lived with her husband and i was always under impression that this was normal so thought no more about it.eight months later said woman who turns out to be money grabbing lowlife tells me shes pregnant after i finish with her.jump forward my son is born before hes born i give her all the money she wants to get all the baby stuff as i would 100% look after my son .i tell her i will buy whatever my son needs on week to week basis (nappies food clothes etc ) and also give her 50 euro per week in case he needs something just as a back up amount.she says im being a greedy so and so and stops me seeing the child and takes me to court because her friends tell her to take me to cleaners cos i have couple of businneses.i have her telling me on dictaphone telling me she is using my son to get money from me but this was not admissable in court(what a joke).so in court she is awarded 80 per week total so i pay this until my son starts coming up sick underweight and unbelieveable nappy rash so i take matters into my own hands and start buying all his stuff again food napp sudo cream etc and stop giving her the money which she is clearly not spending on the little man(he is 2 and half now)contacted her husband who tells me that she walked out on the three kids when they were just infants to start seeing a sixty year old man she was 27 at time and abandonded them ,he gives me a letter for the judge stating she now only sees them 4 days per month and at that tries to send them home early and has no interest in them.with this information i go to the judge to plead my case and try get access of 3 to 4 nights per week but she says she couldnt bear to be without him for that length of time i bring up case of other kids and how often she sees them and im told that it is nothing to do with my son .for the judge it seems to be a case of pick and choose what kid u want which is a joke i had receipts totalling thousands for all sons stuff i had bought over last year but he didnt want to know.how can a father be treated so badly by judiciary when he has so much factual evidence on all thats going on and all he wants is to see his son more often. i welcome replies and opinions from male and female and insight into how a woman can treat her kids so differently because of money.by the way she is pregnant again with some other guy who has a business have tried to warn him but apparently he wants to learn the hard way

fizzy cola

Hi eightbal1 basically the family law in Ireland is a joke in this country and there is no logic in it. I have been going through the courts for 8 years now and it never ceases to amaze me what goes on. All I can say to you is don't give up apply to the court again to have the access to your son varied. You never know what judge you will get and his or hers opinions may vary. i know of one guy who had to go to the high court because of the lies his ex told it back fired on her and he now has regular access to his daughter.

irish20

My sons father was sent a summons to pay maintenance over ayear ago and he has not responded although he has attained a lawyer for land we have together


he now lives in London and I am in Ireland.


I am currently seeking how I can enforce the arrears, surely noon of them can get away with it

dermot_sheehan

Get in touch with a solicitor, your local legal aid law centre if you can not afford one.

It's possible to enforce a maintenance in another EU state.

blondeyt11

I have been through the courts with my childs father in accordance with maintenance...got offered a measly 25 he hasnt even started the payment and now he owes me 4 weeks.What can i do about this.I hate hungry people