Alberta MEP

[Soiled]

I'm wondering if anyone had any experience with getting the amounts of child support payable through Alberta maintenance enforcement program reduced?

My girlfriends ex hasn't been paying support for quite a while now, it's court ordered and enforced by MEP, however he quit/lost his job at some point, and MEP hasn't caught up to him yet for his latest work place for starting garnishments again. He has been making a great deal of noise about getting the amounts he owes, and the amount he should be paying monthly, reduced.

If he wants to reduce these, does MEP have a process in place for that? Or will this be something he has to do through the courts?

At this point all he has done is make demands of her that she reduce it, she just tells him to contact MEP and deal with it through them. His response, for months now has been to just threaten court and then he drops it for a few weeks.

My favorite threat so far from him, was when he wrote that she has two options. 1) He takes her to court 2) He pays her everything he owes and she removes him from MEP. A nice bit of written blackmail and it indicates he is capable of paying.

[arabian]

To temporarily stop or reduce support - go to the MEP website:

https://justice.alberta.ca/programs_...ges/forms.aspx

Your girlfriend, the creditor, can simply fill in a form, sign it and fax it in. She can reinstate support at any time. The form is the second one from the bottom.

In order to run the forms program I believe you have to use Chrome? (I'm not tech-savy but I'm sure you'll figure it out).

[Soiled]

Unfortunately he is not the type that will give out his financials to her without being forced. He wants to just dictate what he thinks he should be paying and make her accept that. So without those figuring out a realistic sum to come up with to reduce the payments to is unlikely.

I'm more wondering what he will have to go through to get them reduced on his end, so that she can know what to expect if the threats ever end and he starts taking action.

[arabian]

He would have to go to court to have the Order changed if your girlfriend will not agree to reduce payments. Alternately, iF he has been overpaying I believe he can simply go through the MEP child support recalculation program (information on line). One would think he would have to provide full financial disclosure (by completing the 12-page financial statement) to MEP.

If he knows she has the power to reduce/stop his CS obligation (without him having to go to court) he might sing a different tune. I would explore this option.

Court is not fun and it can be very expensive and extremely time-consuming regardless of who is the more successful party.

[Soiled]

Yeah he won't even provide his financials to MEP, previously they had to do pretty much everything in their power to get anything from him, including taking away his drivers license. Makes for a bit of a moral dilemma when he shows up driving to pick up his daughter, and you know he's not legally able to drive. He will likely lose his license again in another couple weeks.

Unless I'm not figuring correctly on any factors properly there really isn't anything to fear from him taking her to court.

- He has the potential to reduce it through MEPs recalculation program, but isn't using it

- He could provide financials to her and she could change the payments accordingly

- Costs of going to court would be negligible other than time lost as she wouldn't bother with a lawyer for this. Its child support, he has EOW, it's pretty simple. The judge would demand he provide his financials to make a proper support order. The same financials that she and MEP have requested. Worst case it gets reduced retroactively 8 months, and he still owes her. He's in arrears something like $6,000.

- Costs being awarded to him if he goes for court is unlikely as there are a few options he could use prior to court. My experience on court is negligible, other than a few special chambers or whatever they are called, but it seems as though he would likely get hit with costs as it all just comes down to him needing to give his financial info to various parties, but refusing. Instead he chooses to threaten court and attempt to extort her with payment of arrears in exchange for removal from MEP.

[Soiled]

Just to clarify, Arabian I really appreciate the input, don't interpret my responses as arguing against your replies. Its helping me to figure out all the possible angles on this, as well as a few things we didn't realise at all such as her ability to reduce it through a form. I had thought that MEP went purely on what a court order says. She had let him know of that last night, but when asked to provide his notice of assessment, or anything else that would prove his income level, his response was.... Unfit for polite company.

[arabian]

My experience with Court of Queen's Bench Alberta is that the judges do not like to interfere in the natural collection process of MEP. Maintenance Enforcement is the legal enforcement arm of Alberta Justice... something stubborn individuals fail to comprehend. I know this personally as I was dragged to court by my ex MANY times.

Even if your g/f's ex were to be unemployed for a few years, it would still be incumbent upon him (in court) to provide evidence that he was actively looking for work.

[arabian]

Just to clarify, Arabian I really appreciate the input, don't interpret my responses as arguing against your replies. Its helping me to figure out all the possible angles on this, as well as a few things we didn't realise at all such as her ability to reduce it through a form. I had thought that MEP went purely on what a court order says. She had let him know of that last night, but when asked to provide his notice of assessment, or anything else that would prove his income level, his response was.... Unfit for polite company.

I totally get where you are coming from as I have been in a similar situation for many years. I've heard all of the excuses (as have the courts) and my ex was always unsuccessful despite having legal counsel.

Technically, your g/f's ex has an obligation to provide full financial disclosure to MEP and to your g/f likely 1 x yearly for purposes of determining his income. IF he does not provide the financial information to MEP they will simply continue collection. If he has already had his license suspended he knows this only too well. The fine for being caught driving with a suspended license is huge though and if he's driving someone else's vehicle it can be impounded.

Keep in touch with MEP and ask them what collection activities are currently ongoing. (Keep in mind that MEP is essentially a call centre and they manage over 60,000 files). It can be a frustrating process for sure. By the sounds of things, MEP is getting under his skin. He KNOWS his pay will be garnished (up to 50%) as well as any income tax return money, GST rebates, etc. If an employer fails to garnishee his pay the employer can be held responsible for the full 6,000.00 owing in arrears.