Maintenance Order sent to Employer

Marcface

Hi folks,

I was wondering could someone offer advice. It seems my employer was handed a court order to pay maintenance directly to my ex's bank account. Now, I had no knowledge of this order which is the problem. It is stated the summons was dated the 17th of July. Not only did I not receive this, I wasn't even in the country on that date.

My question is, is my employer supposed to tell me when they receive something like this, or stay silent and just process it?

Regards,
Marc

Clive

Marcface wrote: »

Hi folks,

I was wondering could someone offer advice. It seems my employer was handed a court order to pay maintenance directly to my ex's bank account. Now, I had no knowledge of this order which is the problem. It is stated the summons was dated the 17th of July. Not only did I not receive this, I wasn't even in the country on that date.

My question is, is my employer supposed to tell me when they receive something like this, or stay silent and just process it?

Regards,
Marc

They are obliged to tell you when they begin making deductions, via your payslip. In my experience, most payroll controllers will tip someone off about a big change if they have an existing relationship, but other than that they won't. For every person that would thank you, there's another who would complain.

goz83

How did you find out?

Has the order been acted upon?

Do you dispute the order?

Pass this onto your solicitor

Marcface

I found out today as I got my payslip, I'm actually leaving tomorrow so it was some very bad timing. I queried an unexplained deduction and was emailed a copy of the order. The order identifies me by name only, it for some reason does not include my PPS number or any other identifying markers. It is to pay directly to the creditors account. I suspect she used a previous address of mine and for some unknown, baffling reason, the court must have felt I was successfully "served". Yet even though this is all dated from last summer, the payments were dated to start from last week. This all seems a bit dodgy to me. I do not currently have a solicitor as I have never needed one, so this is going to be a new experience for me.

martinr5232

If you were paying your maintenance n full and on time i dont think a judge would grant such an order.
Why did your ex bring you to court in the first place ??

NUTLEY BOY

I fail to understand how OP can be subject to a court order like this if they were not actually given the chance to be heard in the proceedings in which the order was made.

I endorse the advice to contact a solicitor now.

I would imagine that if the proceedings were not properly served on the OP (including not being served at all) then they would be entitled to request the court that made the order to vacate it's verdict and the applicant would have to repeat the application process.

Generally, I don't really know anything about family law specifically but would it be normal for matters to be dealt with ex parte, as distinct from cases where proceedings are properly notified but one side elects not to appear ?

Marcface

martinr5232 wrote: »

If you were paying your maintenance n full and on time i dont think a judge would grant such an order.
Why did your ex bring you to court in the first place ??

The "ex" decided to take my daughter, after being unfaithful during pregnancy, and leave. She gave me no information on where she lives, changed her phone number and has prevented me from seeing my daughter for 15 months by doing this (it's the entire reason she did it), not before outlining my distinct lack of rights as an unmarried father.

This is the first I've heard from her since that point.

I was always under the impression that there had to be some form of proof that a summons has been served? By the looks of this she has quite literally brought me to court, by herself, without my knowledge and a judge sat there and agreed with everything, proceeding to send this order to my employer.

This is not only absolutely embarrassing, it is downright wrong that all of this could go on, in our legal system, and I not be aware.

Surely if I was meant to show up for court last July and didn't I'd have been arrested by now for 14 days I believe it is?

Sorry for all the questions, this is absolutely baffling..

martinr5232

There would have to be a maintenance order in place already which must have been done in your absence aswell.

You dont get a summons to family court like a civil court but your ex has to tell you she has you up by registered post so whatever address she sent them to did someone else sign for your letters ??

She is probobly going to come after you now for arrears aswell.

Are you going to bring her to court for access to your child if you are you need a solicitor asap because its a minefield you would be aswell to get legal advice from a family law solicitor anyway.

Marcface

martinr5232 wrote: »

There would have to be a maintenance order in place already which must have been done in your absence aswell.

You dont get a summons to family court like a civil court but your ex has to tell you she has you up by registered post so whatever address she sent them to did someone else sign for your letters ??

She is probobly going to come after you now for arrears aswell.

Are you going to bring her to court for access to your child if you are you need a solicitor asap because its a minefield you would be aswell to get legal advice from a family law solicitor anyway.

If she sent anything registered it would have been to a flat I was renting a year and a half ago, so whoever lives there now probably signed for anything sent there (God only knows why).

It's a huge mess. I really don't want to end up in court, as if that happens I will have to fight my corner and in doing so will have to report her for certain social welfare related items (especially if they're looking at incomes) and as much as revenge sounds good at this stage, it would cause a considerable amount of damage for my daughter which I don't want to do. I'm really not sure what to do so I think I'll take your advice and speak to someone. Shame that she gets all of that for free as well and I'll end up in more debt that way..

Peregrinus

Marcface wrote: »

It's a huge mess. I really don't want to end up in court . . .

You're already in court, I'm afraid.

Cut to the chase. You do have to pay maintenance for your daughter, and I presume you are willing to. Is the amount reasonable? You certainly have grounds for going back to court and reopening this matter, but the end result will likely be a maintenance order against you, and it may not be much lower, or lower at all, than the one you have.

On the other hand, by going back to court, you can reopen not only the question of maintenance but the questions of custody and access. So if you dissatisfied with not knowing where your daughter is and with having no access to her, this presents an opportunity to do something about that.

As others have said, talk to a solicitor. I cannot emphasis that enough. Find out what your options, whether there is a real prospect of getting the maintenance amount adjusted, and discuss the possiblities with regard to access, custody and even guardianship. Do not make any decision until you have done this.

Mr. Incognito

You are entitled to see your daughter.

Go speak to a solicitor asap

dollyk

Just because you are not married , does not mean everything
she wants she will get. Dont be afraid to stand your ground.
Find out your rights, and dont be bullied into thinking its easier
to just give her what she wants for your daughters sake.


And she was not that worried about you reporting her when she took out the court order.
It does not have to be revenge, but lay all your cards on the table, otherwise
it will never be sorted.