Non Payment of Child Maintenance

For some reason, non-custodial parents often feel that being unemployed is valid reason to cease contributing towards their child's welfare.

Interestingly, if the custodial parent loses their job, the costs associated with rearing a healthy child do not disappear. Remember that the allowance per child on state payments is approximately €15, if I recall correctly.

hi , from reading through the posts, a few have said go into the court and listen and a few have said it is in camera, this is true the only persons allowed in are the briefs and the concerned parties, have you sat down and spoke to your x???
one post says to inform social fraud dept but by doing this the child could suffer more so . it is a sensitive topic one to be sure to speak to ur brief before acting.
best of luck with this,

i was in the same suitation so i rang the court clerk she told me to write to them stating what i wanted to do and ask them to recover the missed payments for me
i sent down a copy of the maintenance order with the letter and also asking if the payments could be made through the court instead of directly to me
i went to court last week payments are now being made by him to the court and i recieve a check in the post. if he missed a payment they go after him for it
not sure what happened about the missed payments yet

It is true that you can recover the arrears of maintenance, but only a maximum of six months maintenance. Even if the father of your children is unemployed he will be ordered to pay some level of maintenance, unemployment does not mean that your obligation to pay maintenance ceases. If possible you should have the maintenance paid through the District Court office as they then can keep track of whether there are arrears.

. afterall the man has lost his job and as a single person on the dole is only entitled to approx €200 a week yet like Shylock you demand your pound of flesh.or 40% of his now dole payment. .


My ex gave up working because he got a 3 year drink driving ban. Unfortunately, all the judge wants to know is that he is not working and therefore pays a pittance in maintenance.

I think you need to go back to court and have payments set up through social welfare, the 20e should go directly into your account and never reaches him or if hes working its stopped out of his wages, this way you are guaranteed the 20 every wk. you mention he is working too if i was you i would hang him to social welfare, at teh end of the day you are without proper maintenance for your child when you know he is earning it, he thnks he is being smart but i would go one step further and do your best to prove he is working and get your 75euro back you are entitled to, kids are so expensive these days!!!!!

iv been geetting maintenance of €60 for my 3 children, im unemployed and i had to nearly drag that €60 out of him, he is living in a house hant down to him, he never ever took the children overnight, he eats out every day, he has his own small business and im taking him to court as i cant survive on what he is giving me, can anyone give me advise on what to expect in court? or does anyone think im wrong for doing this? also we do not talk, he will not talk to me cause i finished our relationship and he is very bitter over that, he was cheating on me, and thats finally why i ended with him..

Hi,
I empathise with your situation. My ex actually stopped working in order to pay mininmum maintenance which is still hard to get from him, even though I've been to court 3 times.
My advice is: don't expect justice to be done-it won't be. Even though he is quite obviously wrong, family law in Ireland is appallingly backward and very poorly enforced. The judge will only want to know the facts, so be well armed. I guarantee that your ex will use the recession as a way out of paying especiallly as he has his own business. The judge doesn't want to know that he cheated, that he eats out everyday (unless you have recepits) or anything else unless you have proof. Even if you get awarded the maintenance your children deserve,there is still the chance that he won't pay. If his arrears go past 26 weeks, they are wiped clean!!! He can't be prosecuted for them! My ex has twice gone into arrears and nothing has been done even though all moniey he pays goes through the court clerk.
I'm sorry if I sound negative but I have been in your place and it is a terribly frustrating situation to be in. It's not of your doing, yet you and your children have to suffer. When in court you will have to keep your mouth shut and let your solicitor do the talking-it;s very hard!
good luck

thank you so much nancy, im extremely nervous and i know the law in ireland is backwards but im closse to a nervous breakdown due to all this carry on thats why i decided to take him to court, im doing it for my kids, i just hope and pray all goes well, if it doesnt well i wont give up up , il appeal it, its so so unfair, men get away with murder.... (not all men are bad)

While there are many,many good,responsible dads out there who pay maintenance and take care of their children regardless of their relationship with the Children's mother,I have been amazed and appalled at the extent to which some will go to avoid it.
You have a long road ahead of you but at least you will know that you did your best.
Keep a written record of every single time he doesn't pay, doesn't collect the children,is late,cancels-everything. I had a notebook full of these things and it proved invaluable.
Also,find out if you are entitled to legal aid. Citizen's advice could tell you.

thanks nancy, court is in the morning, i have the last two months wrote down in a journal, im am so scared its unreal, and i have nothing to hide, its him that is lying, i just want to walk out of court knowing i done my best for my children, but going on what a lot of people are saying its going to be hard to prove he is lying, its a mans world, and my ex does not deserve to have any part in thire lives.. he cannot proived for them emotionally or finically, its so annoying, he is the most selfish man i ever met. and at least after tomorrow all money given as maintenance will be on record... i will let you know tomorrow how i got on.... thanks so much for ur advice...

hi nancy just want to let u know court went very well for me, im delighted with the outcome, justice was done for me today, after 12 years of torture and mental abuse i finally won... i feel so relieved, i hope u eventually get justice too... thanks for ur advice

A man on 200 per week could hardly be accused of ducking and diving to avoid paying maintenance. He is ducking and diving to survive. If he paid when he had it I think it only reasonable to cut him some slack while he looks for work. There is enough in a split and a recession. The sterotypes and badgering wont help the situation or the fathers opinion of himself and relationship with the children.

That's great,it's a nerve-wracking experience. Hope you got him to pay through the court clerk,save you dealing with him. They chase him for late or non-payments.

hi nancy, yes the money is been paid through court clerk, my solicitor advised me that that way is best...

A man on 200 per week could hardly be accused of ducking and diving to avoid paying maintenance. He is ducking and diving to survive. If he paid when he had it I think it only reasonable to cut him some slack while he looks for work. There is enough in a split and a recession. The sterotypes and badgering wont help the situation or the fathers opinion of himself and relationship with the children.

Click to expand...

So, a man who gets put off the road for 3 yearsfor drink driving,and thus has no transport to work,is a great father? The poor man,how dare the judge put him off the road when he is obviously a responsible,law abiding citizen. This same man refuses to getg the bus to see his children as he would "look stupid", so after working all day, and doing a 2hr commute, I have to drive for another hour. And as for looking for work- is work found in the gym? In the pub?Sitting on the wall of his girlfriend's council house? No,it's found in the nixers he does while still claiming the dole. Not that his children see this extra money. If ducking and diving was an olympic sport, there'd be a queue a mile long to take part.

well said nancy, nobody knows what its like to be in our situation unless their in it, you keep fighting cause ur kids deserve more from that man than their getting and u know he can provide better than what he is and thats all that matters... thinking of u, keep in touch

hi, im separated from my ex 4 years, he hasn't paid any maintenance since last April. we have 2 kids. he also works for himself and says he is not working at present even though i have seen him working. he is supposed to pay €100 per week but presently owes over €2000. I have gone to court clerk but because of problems with the legislation they said there is nothing they can do until legislation is changed. He knows this too. He said he'd pay if i agreed to reduce it but unless i do he won't pay anything. i don't think €100 is unreasonable for 2 kids. I have a mortgage, he doesn't, does anyone know if there is anything I can do

First thing is: carry a camera with you at all times and get pictures of him working. Sounds very CSI but it's done all the time. My solictor advised me to get a private investigator but I simply couln't afford it.
Next, I presume your ex has been given a court oder to pay the 100 a week or else you wouldn't be in contact ith court clerk. Unbelievably, arrears are wiped clean if not applied for within 26 weeks so your ex will only be liable for arrears from approx Oct onwards. Get the clerk to issue a summons to get him into court for that.
Thirdly, this rubbish about not paying anything until you agree to reduce it is similar to what I went through. So, tell him to get his solicitor to issue a letter to you and the court applying for a variation order. You will get a summons where you will get to say why you contest it-go through all this with your solicitor first. if he wants to reduce payments (not that he's paying anything!), he has to do it from his end.
And lastly, no,100 is not unreasonable although rmrmrmrm2007 up there might disagree as your ex is probably one of these men, like mine, who is searching for work in every nook and cranny in Ireland. Except anywhere there actually is work.
Good luck

tks for your advice but courts cant enforce maintenance orders at the moment until problems with legislation are sorted. they said they cant issue a summons to get him back into court until it is sorted. has anyone else come across this.