Hypothetical outcome of a family court appeal

lifeandtimes

So one I've thought of and i know no one here as a judge and can give a definitive answers so i wanted some opinions

Former couple in family court for maintenance arrears.

An order is in place that wasn't fully complied with over 6 months(figures are irrelevant.) Based on insufficient income that was ignored or not taken into consideration in court

A judge makes a new order with maintenance and arrears on top of that.

Father makes an appeal as they do not agree with the arrears being valid.

Judge makes no stay in event of appeal and fathers appeal is a date that arrives after the arrears would have been paid off based on the new order.

In the appeal, say the circuit court judge agrees the arrears should not have been ordered for payment.

Two Questions

1. Would a judge order the mother to repay the arrears( probably not)?

2. Would any of the father's rights have been violated by being ordered to pay a sum that couldn't/didn't get returned on an appeal that was in their favour.

In my mind it seems like this is a case of "tough Mod deletion" for the father but I'm curious as to peoples opinions

tracey turnblad

I’m unsure but if he could afford to pay It even after the fact how could he morally not? He’s responsible for providing for his kids. If he has paid it, how could he possibly ask for it back?

lifeandtimes

tracey turnblad wrote: »

I’m unsure but if he could afford to pay It even after the fact how could he morally not? He’s responsible for providing for his kids. If he has paid it, how could he possibly ask for it back?

Well I purposely haven't gone into details of the specifics of the father because I wanted it clear and cut but their are lots of different scenarios

Example: father couldn't afford maintenance at the time as he was out of work, he applied to change it but arrears accrued waiting for a court date, judge ordered the arrears be paid, he appeals it but complied with the order for fear of jail etc while putting himself under financial strain etc.

But that's not the details I was questioning

For the argument say the circuit court judges that the arrears were not valid, based on the made up scenario above but at this time the arrears have been paid.

What is the likely outcome with my original 2 questions

hullaballoo

The appeal court will take the path of least resistance in most cases. Here, restoring relative parity between the parties regarding maintenance could be affected by simply by making an order that the father either pays a reduced sum of maintenance or no maintenance at all until the amount of the incorrectly ordered "arrears" is covered.

Unless the amount of the arrears was minuscule, the likelihood is that the father would continue to pay maintenance albeit at a reduced rate so as not to leave the mother with nothing towards the costs of their children for some weeks/months, depending on the figures.

The father's rights would have been effected but the remedy is appeal so the father's rights are thankfully now intact.

lifeandtimes

hullaballoo wrote: »

The appeal court will take the path of least resistance in most cases. Here, restoring relative parity between the parties regarding maintenance could be affected by simply by making an order that the father either pays a reduced sum of maintenance or no maintenance at all until the amount of the incorrectly ordered "arrears" is covered.

Unless the amount of the arrears was minuscule, the likelihood is that the father would continue to pay maintenance albeit at a reduced rate so as not to leave the mother with nothing towards the costs of their children for some weeks/months, depending on the figures.

The father's rights would have been effected but the remedy is appeal so the father's rights are thankfully now intact.

That seems like quite a just and fair outcome to that situation.

Thanks for your comment hullaballoo

Robbo

OP: Having reviewed this thread, in conjunction with your post history, I'm closing this thread as being contrary to the charter.