Your
Liability to Maintain Your Family
Both
Men and women are required under the law to maintain their dependent
spouses and children. Those who fail to maintain their spouse
and children adequately must contribute to the Department towards
the cost of any One-Parent Family Payment, Deserted Wife's payment
or Supplementary Welfare Allowance which, as a result, is paid
to their families.
How
does the system operate?
The
Maintenance Recovery Section in the Pension Services Office
in Sligo is responsible for implementing the Liability to Maintain
Family Provisions.
The
Section:
Decides
whether a spouse / parent is liable to contribute determines
the amount to be contributed makes arrangements for the contributions
to be paid takes action, if necessary, to ensure the contributions
are paid regularly.
How
much will the liable relative have to contribute?
The
financial and new dependency situation of each liable relative
is first assessed in detail. (This is usually done at the same
time as the One-Parent Family Payment or Deserted Wife's Benefit
/ Allowance claim is being investigated.)
The
assessment is based on the net income of the liable relative.
Allowances
are made for any child dependants s/he has, and credit is given
for any regular outgoings such as mortgage or house rent.
The
section determines (by way of 'Determination Order') the ability
of the person concerned to contribute towards the benefit /
allowance, and the amount of weekly contribution due.
Determinations
can be reviewed where there is new information about, or changes
in, the financial or household circumstances of a liable relative.
How
will the contributions be paid?
The
Department seeks weekly payment wherever possible from the liable
relatives, and moneys are paid by liable relatives directly
to:
The
Cashier
Accounts Branch
Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs
Oisín House
Pearse Street
Dublin 2
or
by standing order to the Department's bank account.
The
Health Boards are responsible for recovering contributions from
the liable relative where a family is living on Supplementary
Welfare Allowance.
What
happens to Maintenance Orders?
Any
person who is getting Deserted Wife's Benefit / Allowance or
One-Parent Family Payment is liable to transfer to the Minister
for Social, Community and Family Affairs, payments received
in compliance with a Court Order, including maintenance paid
to children.
Under
the One-Parent Family Payment both personal and child maintenance
payments are assessed as means; rent or mortgage repayments
may be disregarded in assessing maintenance payments, up to
a ceiling of €95.23 per week. However, if the maintenance
is not assessed as means, a transfer of the maintenance order
to the Department may be requested.
The
Department rather than the lone parent carries the risk of maintenance
default by the liable relative. In the case of One-Parent Family
Payment and Deserted Wife's Allowance, the means may be re-assessed
on transfer of the Maintenance Order to the Department. There
is no means adjustment possible in the case of Deserted Wife's
Benefit claims.
A
person's One-Parent Family Payment or Deserted Wife's Benefit
/ Allowance may be reduced or stopped if they do not comply
with a request to transfer their maintenance to the Department.
LATEST NEWS :
The
Department of Social and Family Affairs 29/04/2003
€77.5 Million Saved by Anti-fraud Measures
Irish
Independent 18/03/03
€8.5m
saved after investigators
trace parents dodging support
Department
of Social, Community and Family Affairs
2003
Letters
been sent out by Department of Social and Family Affairs to
Ex-partners.
Department of Social,
Community and Family Affairs, 2nd January 2001
Lone
Parents To Benefit From Maintenance Proposal
More
Information
For
more information contact:
Maintenance
Recovery Section
Pension Services Office
College Road
Sligo.
Tel: Sligo (071) 69800
Dublin (01) 8748444
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