Getting child maintenance from a parent who lives overseas
Dear Mrs Macaulay, I am a mother residing in Jamaica seeking legal advice and assistance regarding an international child support matter. My child’s father currently lives overseas and has not been maintaining or financially supporting our child. I have been trying to find the proper legal channels to pursue child support internationally, but I have been facing difficulties understanding the process and accessing the right assistance. I am reaching out through this newspaper in hopes of receiving guidance, legal advice, or information about organisations, lawyers, or government agencies that may be able to assist me with an international child support case involving a parent living abroad.
As a mother, I am doing my best to provide for my child, and I would greatly appreciate any help, direction, or support you can offer.
You have not stated when the father of your child left Jamaica to live abroad, or whether he is a born national of the country in which he lives. You have also not stated the country by name. These pieces of information are important to enable me to give you specific information. But despite the gaps in your information, I shall do my best to be as clear as I can.
Firstly, your use of the term “international child support” is incorrect. What you are in fact talking about, is either doing a new application for maintenance if you do not currently have a court order; or if you already have an order which the father is disobeying, how you can have such an order enforced while he’s outside Jamaica.
You must first retain the services of an attorney-at-law to help prepare the relevant documents. You need to have the father’s correct address. Since he lives abroad, you absolutely need an attorney, as there are more complications when a respondent in a court matter is abroad.
There are also differences between countries which are members of the Commonwealth, for example, the United Kingdom and Caricom countries and other ex-British colonies, and those which are foreign countries, for example, the United States (US), countries in Europe, and some in other parts of the world.
If you do not have a court order currently, then you must apply to the court here in Jamaica, as the Rules of court specify. Service of the documents on the father in his country of residence must follow the Rules. The other thing I must ask, is whether the father’s name(with or without further details) is on your child’s birth certificate. If it is not, the first application must then be for a Declaration of Paternity.
If you already have a court order, and it’s not being honoured, then you need to file processes to enforce the order and the sums due to be collected from the father where he resides.
If he lives in a Commonwealth country, your certified order can be sent there to be registered and enforced as these do not need the existence of a treaty to be enforceable. If it is a foreign country, then there must be in place a reciprocal agreement for the enforcement of orders and judgements with Jamaica. In the case of the US, the father must reside in a State which has such a reciprocal agreement with Jamaica. If he does not live in such a State, then you will have to see about initiating your application from within the US, which can be a seriously costly exercise. The assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also necessary.
The best thing for you to do, from what I can deduce from the paucity of the facts in your letter, is to go to the Family Court in your parish and seek their assistance. Take your child’s certified birth certificate with you. The clerk there will explain everything to you and if you can file an application, they will assist you to do so.
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 private, personal responses.
