FRO- How do I get my money back?

[Great Dad]

I have an order of concent saying that I have custody and and that I no longer pay child support. I sent it to the FRO via FAX right away. They continued to take my money until they sent my ex a letter to confirm that it was correct. (Several months later.) I still don't don't why when it was a signed and sealed Court Order.

I talked to the FRO regarding the money they continued to take out of my account and they have told me that I now have to go to my ex to get it back they will not reimburse me.

Anyone ever heard of this?
Thanks for any feedback.

[bluesgirl52]

You don't ..my ex cl went through this when his daughter was done highschool. FRO still took it off until he went to his lawyer and drew up a statement saying she was done school..His ex still got the money until the lawyers letter went to the court system and then to FRO..FOR said the money was gone and it wasn't there problem..

[havebe]

Contact the ombudsman right now! The will get in contact with fro and figure it out.

[standing on the sidelines]

could the poster not go to small claims court to get the money back from the ex??

[blinkandimgone]

If he has custody then she should be paying him support. He could take her to court and have the amount added to the support amount until it's paid back. If it's going to cost more for the lawyer than the overpayment amount then it might be best to just accept that the money is gone and move forward.

[Great Dad]

Thanks all,
Yes, I have custody and I see I have some options.
I have found the ombudsman was not helpful in the past with my issues, I can't even tell you the sour taste they left in my mouth.
The entire Canadian Family Court system along with the FRO seems corrupt to me. I guess at the end of the day I am just glad my child is finally happy and doing great, I would pay it all again to see the positive change in school, life and attitude.

I guess it's best to pick your battles

[#1StepMom]

As sad as it is... unless you put all your time and energy into lawyers and court... you will not get the money back. FRO is the most ridiculous government agency there is. According to the Business Bureau, FRO is second from the top in the amount of complaints they receive... only barely surpassed by provincial prisons (where inmates have all the time in the world to write to the Business Bureau with hundreds of thousands of complaints).

If it's not a lot of money... let it go. But if it is a decent amount, I'd self-represent if I were you and get a court order stating that you were not to pay child support since XYZ date, and ask for an order that your ex pay you the amount back via FRO until *her* arrears (your overpayment) have been repaid.

I can also fully understand your frustrations... we are currently fighting with FRO tooth and nail as they claim that my husband owes over $2,000 in arrears... based on an order from 2 years ago... even though we have been to court and child support has been readjusted 3 times since that order, and all the latest orders had been sent to FRO right away. Yet, they still claim he owes money and have a garnishee summons against him with Revenue Canada and are now sending notices that they will be reporting him to the Credit Bureau. And yet... we keep faxing the latest orders so that they can see that he is NOT in arrears, and that due to their lack of proper adjustments, he has overpaid... and they don't seem to care to make the proper adjustments. It's quite infurriating.

Good luck to you.

[AtALoss]

As others have said here another approach is through the Ombudsman. He was very helpful in getting another case(and a member here) His file somewhat straightened out. But 2 things he cannot do is if you have an active file open in court he cannot intervene and secondly he can only deal with adminitrative types of errors with in FRO. My guess is 90% of complaints are such. delays and errors. By all means to everyone that has issue please raise them to the Ombudsman. Even if there is not much he can do one more complaint reinforces the amount of problem that FRO is having.

Mistakes happen to us all in life but when they become too many we have a huge problem. My lawyer estimates that there are some 27,500 cases that should be reopened/readdressed because of this type of thing.

We personally are making progress that I have had to stay somewhat quiet about, but things are moving ahead so will keep all posted.

[AtALoss]

Another avenue to try is your MP. They do have contacts at FRO and may be able to get some answers or resolution.