Babyfather refuses to pay child support

Dear Mrs Macaulay,I am a single mother of a four year old. When I became pregnant and informed the father, I did not receive any assistance from him. Fast forward to 2017, I took him to court for maintenance. He was ordered to pay $2,500 weekly, that is $10,000 monthly. If I do not send out warrants for him, I do not get any money at all. He is now one year behind on payments from last October to now. Each time I call the Brown’s Town courthouse in St Ann, I am given the runaround as if they do not want to assist me. I have bills piling up and cannot make payments. My daughter’s school fee is to be paid and her school supplies are needed. The father told me he will not be paying a cent as I am the one who needs his money. I am a hardworking young lady who tries her utmost best to make my daughter very comfortable and happy. His family members also call and text me, cursing me off and threatening me as well. How do I get him to pay the outstanding amounts? Please, I am in need of your advice.

I am sorry to learn of the abusive treatment of your babyfather and his family members after you were being a responsible mother and citizen in insisting that he obeys the maintenance order made by the court for the benefit of your child. Then, to also have the personnel of the court office compound the difficulty by giving you the runaround instead of assisting you, this is a very serious dereliction of their duty.

Since your babyfather has stated that he will not give you one cent, he has proved his intention not to obey a lawfully made court order. Does he think that such a small sum is sufficient to truly make a serious dent in the total cost of your daughter’s support? He is not only in default, but has stated his contempt of the court and its order!

This is a very clear case for the court staff to assist you in issuing a default summons for a warrant for his arrest and for him to be brought before the court, wherein he will have to pay his arrears or be locked up until he pays it all. I therefore cannot understand why the clerks in Brown’s Town have not acted in your matter. Are you telephoning and have not gone in person? You have to go in person so that they can take the facts from you and assist you.

I am assuming that you did not ask, when the order was made, for him to pay the weekly sums into the court’s office, and he was paying directly to you. If the money was being paid into the court’s office, the evidence of his non-payment would be right there. If the monies were being paid directly to you, then you must go into the office and give them the facts of his non-payment and you must also inform them of his statements and the abuses and threats of his family members.

In relation to the threats, you must save them on your phone and you can use them to report each incident to the police, as threats are offences which should be prosecuted.

Now, what can you do about getting your baby’s father to pay his arrears? I must first say, what an idiotic and wicked position for him to take, which is a complete disregard of his daughter’s needs! How does he think she survives and must continue to survive? He has no respect for himself, his daughter, you the mother of his child, or for the laws of Jamaica! This is one of the clearest examples of contempt of court that it has been my misfortune to hear about in a long time, so the heavy hand of the law must be made to fall on him.

So, if you have not gone to the court’s office in person, you must do so. But ask for and speak with the clerk of the court and explain everything to him/her. If no action is taken again, then you must write to the senior judge of the court and explain how you have received no assistance despite all your efforts and many contacts with the personnel in the office, and include your telephone number. Keep a copy of your letter. If you receive no reply, either in writing or by telephone, then your next step must be a letter to the Chief Justice of Jamaica, Supreme Court, King Street, Kingston, and again state everything and include a copy of your letter to the senior judge.

You did not say whether the order was for $2,500 per week and a half of educational, medical and dental expenses for your daughter. If the educational, medical and dental were not a part of the order, they should be, since she is attending school.

I do not believe that you would need to write to the Chief Justice because I am certain that the senior judge of Brown’s Town Court will investigate and sort out whatever was the problem and proceed to ensure that your daughter receives her maintenance. I suggest that you ask that it is ordered that your baby’s father pays his ordered contributions into the court office and you can give your bank account particulars for the sums to be paid in it by the accountant.

I must remind you that after the passage of a year or two, because of the normal increase in prices for goods and services, you should apply for a variation of the maintenance order and you must work out the proper proportion for you and the baby father’s contributions, by listing how much you pay for rent or mortgage, for electricity, water, phone, cable, child care, food, clothing, footwear, uniforms, household supplies and for lunch monies and snacks, and a sum for providing entertainment for her. List all these items and their costs and divide it into two — the one-half total would be for your expenses and the other your daughter’s, so half of this half is what you should apply for his fixed sum contribution, and then you must also apply that he pays one half of her educational, medical and dental expenses, until she is 18 years of age.

The “until 18” does not mean that you cannot apply several times for the fixed sum to be varied as the years pass. Then, if she wishes to go to university or to a skills training institution, you should make an application to the court before her 18th birthday, that maintenance be extended until she completes her degree or training or becomes 23 years old, whichever is attained first, and, if necessary, that it be varied to meet the increased costs of her maintenance. Her father must be made to meet his obligations to ensure that his daughter can grow up and be a responsible and contributing member of society.

I also suggest that when you go to the court about his default and the arrears, that you also apply for sole custody, care and control of your daughter so it can be heard at the same time. It is clear that the father is not a proper candidate for a joint custody order as he has demonstrated his lack of interest in her and in her welfare.

I hope I have assisted you about what you can do to ensure that your daughter’s father meets his obligations to her, so that she has all the opportunities to live a good life with your help .

Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law, Supreme Court mediator, notary public, and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@jamaicaobserver.com; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5. All responses are published. Mrs Macaulay cannot provide personal responses.

DISCLAIMER:

The contents of this article are for informational purposes only, and must not be relied upon as an alternative to legal advice from your own attorney.