The FRO Solution Blog

FRO's statutory powers to suspend your driver's licence are substantial and complex to understand. I recently had a case where the payor went to court in 2004 and obtained a Refraining Order to prevent the FRO from suspending his licence. He obtained the refraining Order on condition that he pay a certain monthly amount and that he initiate a motion to change the original support order and arrears within 20 days. He paid the monies and made a new agreement with the support recipient. The agreement didn't get filed with the Court ( big problem!! ). The parties agreed to pay directly by inter-bank transfer rather than thru FRO, but didn't withdraw from FRO or tell FRO ( another big problem !!! ). Although the payor was up to date with his new agreement with the recipient, the FRO records showed no payments for 2 years and no new varied court order as required by the Refraining Order. In March 2007 the payor learned that his driver's licence had just been suspended. FRO was able to suspend the licence based on the breach of the conditions of the 2004 Refraining Order without having to start the licence suspension process all over again from the beginning. The payor was not entitled to go to Court to get a new Refraining Order to stop the licence suspension.

We receive so many calls from support payors complaining that their kids are over 18, out of school and not living at home. The payor tells FRO " but FRO just doesn't care ! " FRO keeps enforcing. The FRO is not a Court. It doesn't have the authority to make a judicial decision. All the FRO can do is write a letter to the support recipient asking whether he or she agrees that the support obligation has ended or terminated. Until the recipient confirms in writing to FRO that the obligation is over, the FRO is legally obligated to continue to enforce the existing Court Order. Even if the recipient does agree that the obligation has ended for the over 18 " child ", FRO may still be required to continue to enforce the full amount of the existing court order if there are other dependant children included in the support order and the order doesn't break the payments down into a " per child basis. " Most child support guideline orders specify a global amount of support, for ex. $900/m for three children rather than $300/m/child. Only the latter type of order can be adjusted by FRO on the consent of the recipient without the necessity of obtaining a new court order. Although recent amendments to the Family Responsibility and Arrears Enforcement Act attempt to address some of these problem areas these amendments are of limited application. In these cut off date situations support payors should write the FRO and the support recipient seeking acknowledgement of the termination of the support obligation for the particular child as of a specified date and an immediate adjustment and return of overpayment, if any. But don't wait for an answer before obtaining legal advice. Chances are very good that you will need to obtain a court order in any event and all of the time you spend trying to obtain a solution through the FRO is a waste of your valuable time. My office offers a flat retainer arrangement for payors and recipients on most child support termination motions. Please refer to the Retainer Agreement at www. thefrosolution.com or e mail my office for more details.