Support order enforcement

2. Payment

Once enrollment is complete, the debtor is required to send all payments to the Maintenance Enforcement Program instead of the creditor so that we can keep accurate and up-to-date payment records.

Payments can be made with cash, cheque, money order, debit card, credit card, through online banking, pre-authorized VISA, or pre-authorized debit. Once received, payments are recorded and forwarded to the creditor - typically on the same day - via direct deposit or mail. Recorded payments can then be reviewed online by both the creditor and debtor.

As the creditor, you should never accept direct payments from the debtor. If you do, enforcement of the support order may be terminated as the program will not have a record of that payment. When taking enforcement measures, we need to ensure we are enforcing payment of the correct amount.

As a debtor, if you are finding it difficult to make your support payments, you may want to consider talking to a lawyer about applying for a new court order or agreement to match your financial circumstances. The Maintenance Enforcement Program cannot assist you with applying for a new support order, or make changes to your existing order. We must continue to enforce the existing order until a new order is issued by the court.

If you have missed payments (arrears), then arrangements can be made to pay off a portion of the arrears each month in addition to the regular payment.