Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1992

13 U.K. For sections 27, 28 and 28A there shall be substituted—

“27A Applications for recovery of maintenance in England and Wales.

(1) This section applies to any application which—

(a) is received by the Lord Chancellor from the appropriate authority in a convention country, and

(b) is an application by a person in that country for the recovery of maintenance from another person who is for the time being residing in England and Wales.

(2) Subject to sections 27B to 28B of this Act, an application to which this section applies shall be treated for the purposes of any enactment as if it were an application for a maintenance order under the relevant Act, made at the time when the application was received by the Lord Chancellor.

(3) In the case of an application for maintenance for a child (or children) alone, the relevant Act is the Children Act 1989.

(4) In any other case, the relevant Act is the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978.

(5) In subsection (3) above, “child” means the same as in Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989.

27B Sending application to the appropriate magistrates’ court.

(1) On receipt of an application to which section 27A of this Act applies, the Lord Chancellor shall send it, together with any accompanying documents, to the clerk of a magistrates’ court acting for the petty sessions area in which the respondent is residing.

(2) Subject to subsection (4) below, if notice of the hearing of the application by a magistrates’ court having jurisdiction to hear it cannot be duly served on the respondent, the clerk of the court shall return the application and the accompanying documents to the Lord Chancellor with a statement giving such information as he possesses as to the whereabouts of the respondent.

(3) If the application is returned to the Lord Chancellor under subsection (2) above, then, unless he is satisfied that the respondent is not residing in the United Kingdom, he shall deal with it in accordance with subsection (1) above or section 28C of this Act or send it to the Secretary of State to be dealt with in accordance with section 31 of this Act (as the circumstances of the case require).

(4) If the clerk of a court to whom the application is sent under this section is satisfied that the respondent is residing within the petty sessions area for which another magistrates’ court acts, he shall send the application and accompanying documents to the clerk of that other court and shall inform the Lord Chancellor that he has done so.

(5) If the application is sent to the clerk of a court under subsection (4) above, he shall proceed as if it had been sent to him under subsection (1) above.

27C Applications to which section 27A applies: general.

(1) This section applies where a magistrates’ court makes an order on an application to which section 27A of this Act applies.

(2) Section 59 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (orders for periodical payment: means of payment) shall not apply.

(3) The court shall, at the same time that it makes the order, exercise one of its powers under subsection (4) below.

(4) Those powers are—

(a) the power to order that payments under the order be made directly to the clerk of the court or the clerk of any other magistrates’ court in England and Wales;

(b) the power to order that payments under the order be made to the clerk of the court, or to the clerk of any other magistrates’ court in England and Wales, by such method of payment falling within section 59(6) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (standing order, etc.) as may be specified;

(c) the power to make an attachment of earnings order under the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971 to secure payments under the order.

(5) In deciding which of the powers under subsection (4) above it is to exercise, the court shall have regard to any representations made by the person liable to make payments under the order.

(6) Subsection (4) of section 59 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (power of court to require debtor to open account) shall apply for the purposes of subsection (4) above as it applies for the purposes of that section, but as if for paragraph (a) there were substituted—

”(a) the court proposes to exercise its power under paragraph (b) of section 27C(4) of the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1972, and”.

(7) The clerk of the court shall register the order in the prescribed manner in the court.

28 Applications by spouses under the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978.

(1) The magistrates’ court hearing an application which by virtue of section 27A of this Act is to be treated as if it were an application for a maintenance order under the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978 may make any order on the application which it has power to make under section 2 or 19(1) of that Act.

(2) Part I of that Act shall apply in relation to such an application, and to any order made on such an application, with the following modifications—

(a) sections 6 to 8, 16 to 18, 20ZA, 25 to 27 and 28(2) shall be omitted,

(b) in section 30(1), for the words “either the applicant or the respondent ordinarily resides” there shall be substituted “the respondent resides”, and

(c) section 32(2) shall be omitted.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) above do not apply where section 28A of this Act applies.

28A Applications by former spouses under the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978.

(1) This section applies where in the case of any application which by virtue of section 27A of this Act is to be treated as if it were an application for a maintenance order under the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978 (“the 1978 Act”)—

(a) the applicant and respondent were formerly married,

(b) their marriage was dissolved or annulled in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom by a divorce or annulment which is recognised as valid by the law of England and Wales,

(c) an order for the payment of maintenance for the benefit of the applicant or a child of the family has, by reason of the divorce or annulment, been made by a court in a convention country, and

(d) where the order for the payment of maintenance was made by a court of a different country from that in which the divorce or annulment was obtained, either the applicant or the respondent was resident in the convention country whose court made that order at the time that order was applied for.

(2) Any magistrates’ court that would have jurisdiction to hear the application under section 30 of the 1978 Act (as modified in accordance with subsection (6) below) if the applicant and the respondent were still married shall have jurisdiction to hear it notwithstanding the dissolution or annulment of the marriage.

(3) If the magistrates’ court hearing the application is satisfied that the respondent has failed to comply with the provisions of any order such as is mentioned in subsection (1)(c) above, it may (subject to subsections (4) and (5) below) make any order which it has power to make under section 2 or 19(1) of the 1978 Act.

(4) The court shall not make an order for the making of periodical payments for the benefit of the applicant or any child of the family unless the order made in the convention country provides for the making of periodical payments for the benefit of the applicant or, as the case may be, that child.

(5) The court shall not make an order for the payment of a lump sum for the benefit of the applicant or any child of the family unless the order made in the convention country provides for the payment of a lump sum to the applicant or, as the case may be, to that child.

(6) Part I of the 1978 Act shall apply in relation to the application, and to any order made on the application, with the following modifications—

(a) section 1 shall be omitted,

(b) for the reference in section 2(1) to any ground mentioned in section 1 of that Act there shall be substituted a reference to non-compliance with any such order as is mentioned in subsection (1)(c) of this section,

(c) for the references in section 3(2) and (3) to the occurrence of the conduct which is alleged as the ground of the application there shall be substituted references to the breakdown of the marriage,

(d) the reference in section 4(2) to the subsequent dissolution or annulment of the marriage of the parties affected by the order shall be omitted,

(e) sections 6 to 8, 16 to 18, 20ZA and 25 to 28 shall be omitted,

(f) in section 30(1), for the words “either the applicant or the respondent ordinarily resides” there shall be substituted “the respondent resides”, and

(g) section 32(2) shall be omitted.

(7) A divorce or annulment obtained in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom shall be presumed for the purposes of this section to be one the validity of which is recognised by the law of England and Wales, unless the contrary is proved by the respondent.

(8) In this section, “child of the family” has the meaning given in section 88 of the 1978 Act.

28B Applications under the Children Act 1989.

No provision of an order made under Schedule 11 to the Children Act 1989 requiring or enabling a court to transfer proceedings from a magistrates’ court to a county court or the High Court shall apply in relation to an application which by virtue of section 27A of this Act is to be treated as if it were an application for a maintenance order under that Act.

28C Applications for recovery of maintenance in Northern Ireland.

(1) This section applies where the Lord Chancellor receives from the appropriate authority in a convention country an application by a person in that country for the recovery of maintenance from another person who is for the time being residing in Northern Ireland.

(2) The Lord Chancellor shall send the application, together with any accompanying documents, to the clerk of a magistrates’ court acting for the petty sessions district in which that other person is residing.

(3) The application shall be treated for the purposes of any enactment as if it were a complaint made at the time when the application was received by the Lord Chancellor, and references in this section and in sections 29, 29A and 30 of this Act to the complaint, the complainant and the defendant shall be construed accordingly.

(4) Where the complaint is for an affiliation order, a magistrates’ court acting for the petty sessions district in which the defendant is residing shall have jurisdiction to hear the complaint.

(5) If a summons to appear before a magistrates’ court having jurisdiction to hear the complaint cannot be duly served on the defendant, the clerk of the court shall (subject to subsection (7) below) return the complaint and the accompanying documents to the Lord Chancellor with a statement giving such information as he possesses as to the whereabouts of the defendant.

(6) If the complaint is returned to the Lord Chancellor under subsection (5) above, then, unless he is satisfied that the respondent is not residing in the United Kingdom, he shall deal with it in accordance with subsection (2) above or section 27B of this Act or send it to the Secretary of State to be dealt with in accordance with section 31 of this Act (as the circumstances of the case require).

(7) If the clerk of a court to whom the complaint is sent under this section is satisfied that the defendant is residing within the jurisdiction of another magistrates’ court in Northern Ireland, he shall send the complaint and accompanying documents to the clerk of that other court and shall inform the Lord Chancellor that he has done so.

(8) If the complaint is sent to the clerk of a court under subsection (7) above, he shall proceed as if it had been sent to him under subsection (2) above.

(9) When hearing the complaint, a magistrates’ court shall proceed as if the complainant were before the court.

(10) If a magistrates’ court makes an order on the complaint, the clerk of the court shall register the order in the prescribed manner in that court.

(11) Payment of sums due under a registered order shall, while the order is registered in a magistrates’ court in Northern Ireland, be made in such manner and to such person as may be prescribed, and neither Article 36(1) of the Domestic Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 nor Article 85(1) to (7) of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (which relate to the power of a magistrates’ court to direct payments to be made to or through the collecting officer of the court or some other person) shall apply in relation to a registered order.”