# Presentation: 917179

## International case processing with the United Kingdom 

- Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO)

## UK child support reciprocity generally 

- As well as having bilateral arrangements with various countries, the UK is a party to:
-      - the 1956 New York Convention on the Recovery Abroad of Maintenance
-       - the 1973 Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions Relating to Maintenance Obligations
- 	- European law on cross-border enforcement of civil judgments
- Taken together, this means that the UK has some kind of child support relationship with more than 100 countries and territories around the world.

## UK-US child support reciprocity 

- At present, the UK recognizes 47 out of the 50 US states as reciprocating jurisdictions for child support. The exceptions are Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina.
- The UK also does not have reciprocity at present with the District of Columbia or any US overseas territories.
- UK overseas territories, such as Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands, have their own laws and justice systems and they are not included in UK-US reciprocity.

## Who am I dealing with in the UK?

- England & Wales         ***Official Solicitor's Office***
- Scotland             	        ***Scottish Executive Justice Dept***
- Northern Ireland 	        ***Northern Ireland Court Service ***
- These are the 3 REMO 'central authorities.'
- You will _not_ be working with the UK's Child Support Agency (CSA). The law that the CSA uses does not apply to international cases.

## What is the role of the REMO central authorities?

- They are the transmitting and receiving agencies for the UK for international child support cases. They stand between you and the local courts.
-    	  US IV-D agency      	    REMO        	UK court
- REMO looks at the papers going to and fro, and they can help with some problems, but they do _not_ decide case outcomes. The courts decide the cases.

## So... CP in the UK, NCP in the US

- If the CP has a court order, she applies at the court that made the order to have it enforced in the US. The court sends the order to REMO for forwarding to the US state where the NCP is believed to be living.
- If there is no court order, the CP applies at her local magistrates' court for establishment of an order in the relevant US state. Again, the court sends the application to REMO for forwarding to the appropriate US IV-D agency.

## UIFSA forms: UK-to-US cases 

- UIFSA forms have no official status for use in the UK.  REMO has not promulgated them among the UK courts because we and our courts have found that some of the content of the forms is not appropriate for UK applicants.
- So when you get a UK case, don't expect it to look like a US one. The initiating court in the UK will format the application in its own way.

## Sending payments to the UK 

- Our priority is to get the money to the CP as quickly as possible.
- So...
- 	–  don't send checks to REMO
- 	–  send payments directly to the CP
- 	–  or, if you can't send payments to the CP personally, send them to the initiating UK court

## And how about the other way?CP in the US, NCP in the UK

- You can apply to enforce a US order in the UK. It will be adopted by the enforcing UK court as though it is its own order.
- If there is no order, you can apply to establish a UK order in favor of a US resident. But (in England & Wales) there will be no lawyer in court advocating the applicant's case.
- The court will neutrally look at the facts in front of it and decide first whether to make an order, and then – if so – for how much.

## UIFSA forms: US-to-UK cases 

- UK law does not specify a format for incoming cases, so you are free to use the standard UIFSA forms. In general, our courts dislike your forms, but REMO will not reject an application because of the way it has been put together in the initiating state.
- So you can send your case to the UK exactly as though it is any other interstate case.

## UK enforcement 

- The REMO units do not enforce. Only the courts do that.
- The enforcing court can seize property, order wage withholding and/or issue a warrant for the NCP's arrest.
- Ultimately, in the hardest cases, the court can send the NCP to prison for up to 12 months, depending on the size of the unpaid debt.

## Varying (modifying) US support orders, and remitting (writing off) arrears 

- At present, UK courts have jurisdiction to unilaterally modify US child support orders, and to write off part or all of the arrears on those orders.
- We recognize the difficulty that this causes, and REMO advises the UK courts that these decisions will not be recognized in the US.

## Sending payments to the US 

- The enforcing UK court will normally collect the money from the NCP and then send it to the relevant IV-D agency for conversion into US dollars and disbursement.
- Money collected in the UK does not pass through REMO. It goes straight from the enforcing UK court to the relevant US IV-D agency.

## Background issue #1: Healthcare 

- Healthcare in the UK is mostly free of charge to whoever in the country needs it. People only take out private medical insurance if they want healthcare separately and in addition to what is available for free from our National Health Service (NHS).
- Prescription drugs are heavily subsidized in the UK, as is NHS dental care.

## What this means in a child support case...

- UK child support applications to the US will almost never include amounts for healthcare costs.
- US applications to the UK that do include healthcare costs will be considered by the courts. But whether or not the court enforces US healthcare costs, or includes those costs in a new UK support order, will depend on the NCP's ability to pay.

## Background issue #2: Child poverty 

- The UK has well developed welfare provisions, with numerous government programs that are aimed specifically at eradicating child poverty.
- This means that single parents in the UK are not cut adrift financially. It also means that extracting child support money from absent parents does not have the same priority in the UK (and other European countries) as it does in the US.

## What this means in a child support case...

- When you send your case to the UK, naturally it will be taken seriously by both REMO and the court.
- However, the child support enforcement measures that are available in the UK are not as extensive as those that you have in the US, simply because – in general – the UK tackles child poverty domestically in a more socialized, less individual-responsibility kind of way than the US does.

## Finally, a few words on limited services 

- At present, the England & Wales REMO unit will not locate an NCP without first receiving a full application to enforce or establish an order.
- But don't worry!  If you have a case and you don't know the NCP's address, you can still send your application to REMO.
- Simply say in the application that you believe that the NCP is living in the UK, and provide whatever information you have that might be useful in finding him.

## What REMO can do to locate 

- UK data protection law limits what REMO can do to locate a child support debtor.
- We can obtain address information from the UK passport, visa and welfare benefits agencies.
- Once REMO has obtained a recent address for the NCP in the UK, the application will be sent on to the local court responsible for that address.

## And (really) finally... some website addresses 

- Official Solicitor's Office
- www.dca.gov.uk/family/remo/contents.htm
- Scottish Executive Justice Department
-  _[www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/18948/15899](http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/18948/15899)_
- Northern Ireland Court Service
- _[www.courtsni.gov.uk](http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/)_
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