Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

Hi

Do you know anything about moving from Canada to England and if moving and not paying child support or unreasonable fines/fees/costs, etc will be a problem if I stay and get my citizenship in the UK? I have eligibility for UK Ancestry Visa.

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I am not a bad guy just a victim of a very one sided unfair legal system and I see no end to being dragged into court yet again for almost anything. My ex-wife makes $75000/year, has a very secure job and a Masters degree education and the children 90% of the time and gaining. Any information is appreciated.

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

Two sides to every story.
UK is tough on parents who don't pay their child support. The authorities take it child support payments from the parents pay check.
So if your moving moving to UK to avoid paying child support not a good idea. UK has plenty of experience of dealing with deadbeat parents.

http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/e...ce-execut.html

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

:blink:

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

As per site rules, no-one on this site will condone you doing anything that could be classed as illegal nor will they advise you with any way to do so, Giving such advice could lead to British Expats being sued. The problem is yours and you will have to take all responsibility for your actions what ever you do

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

Well said Mike. I reckon the OP would be onto plums anyway, as there is a reciprocal order enforcement agreement between Canada and the UK :thumbup:

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

OP,.I think you can expect a fair bit of judgment of your post, but I will try to be pragmatic about what you are asking. My partner was caught up in the child support system here in Australia for 16 years so we know what it's like to pay when you feel like it's very one sided.

So..... What I used to remind him was that even if the mother is earning very good money and even if she's remarried, you are looking after your children's needs. You cannot control how she uses the payments but you can know that you have done the right thing by the children by ensuring that they don't go without. As for time with you, if you want to spend more time with them then make every attempt to do so. Certainly moving to the UK to avoid paying will not be conducive to seeing them more.

I know you are probably angry and bitter with the system. It does seem to be skewed in favour of the custodial parent at times. However the best thing my partner did for his kids was to always be polite and cooperative with his ex wife. As the mother of his children she will forever be a part of his life, so it makes sense to be at least cordial. It's a good example for the children to see that while the marriage didn't work out you can be grown up enough to put them first.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Bear in mind though that most western countries will have some sort of reciprocal agreement with Canada for child support so running away is not likely to achieve the goal of not paying.

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

What she said :goodpost: Try and remember that you are providing for your children not your ex, she is still manipulating you if you believe the money is for her. Also, look to the future would you rather be known as the Dad who paid up or the one who ran away to avoid supporting his children. Try explaining that to your adult children?

Allowing 'her' to get to you through the mechanism of child support is letting 'her' win. Running away from something is rarely a good idea. As others have said the UK and CA have reciprocal agreements and it will haunt you somehow. Particularly if your ex is as conniving as you suggest!

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

Excellent post!:goodpost:

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

Your Canadian passport and driver's license would be at risk if you do not comply with a child support enforcement order.

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

Agree with the comments about passport and reciprocal agreements between the UK and Canada. Also, from a financial standpoint I would imagine this would have a negative impact on the OP's credit rating in the UK?

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

The applicable treaty is the Hague Convention of 2007(there are many other Hague Conventions, just not "2007").
Here is the list of signatories and parties, including those joining in the foreseeable future:https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/...table/?cid=131

Interestingly, Canada did not ratify despite stating an intention that it would. So it appears the Canadian child support judgments are enforceable in the UK but UK child support judgments are not enforceable in Canada.

It appears you will be researching Australia and New Zealand. ;)

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

I have no idea how providing money to the custodial parent if spent on his/her benefit is morally acceptable, and in fact probably contributes directly or indirectly to the break up of families. The fact that the legal system promotes such a financial scam is an injustice. There are of course many different individual circumstances, but too often the non-custodial parentis forced into a draconian financial circumstance. Unfortunately though being bitter about it serves no purpose.

I had custody of my first child- it cost me literally every penny I had. At first I found out my ex who was supposed to have the child every other weekend, could ask for child support for 4 days a month. Then was told a bit later by lawyer I could ask for child support from my-ex, who made less than me, since I considered myself morally bound to support my child, I didn't ask for one penny in child support.

The idea that by providing money to the OP's ex who seems perfectly able to support the children is somehow "supporting your children from want" is illogical. However based on today's society probably would be used against the OP by the ex to influence the children.

I am not sure how it works in the jurisdiction OP is located in, but my suggestion if the children is OP's main priority (a) take a lower paying job with more flexibility in hours(especially more than the ex) (b) ask and fight for a greater percentage of time with the children. Chances are that (a) OP will have better relationship with children as a result (b) teach them that there are more important things in life than money (c) usually child support a function of income + percentage of time with children- so make less, and have more time with children. Who knows, maybe the ex will have to end up paying OP child support.

The desire to run away I can understand but most likely children will be better off having OP around, and an example that OP is willing to put children first before money or self-interest.

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

The OP is effectively saying,"I want to break the law. please help me."

And he thinks that is okay ? Some people have poor self-awareness

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

Must lack self-awareness or simple extremely desperate. I once knew a fellow who had to live out of his car for 7 months because of unreasonable child support payments.

Re: Move from Canada to UK to avoid child support and legal fines/costs
 

Depends on the circumstances. Breaking laws is not always wrong. Sometimes breaking laws is the only moral thing to do.
Other times following laws is the only sensible thing to do, even when the laws are themselves unfair and/or immoral. It all depends on the circumstances.

Anyway, I think the OP has his answer - moving to the UK would be a disaster in his situation.