Justice

 

What if a party lives outside of Manitoba?

MEP has arrangements with all Canadian provinces and territories, the United States and several other countries to recognize and enforce court orders or agreements from other jurisdictions. This allows the different programs to work together to enforce support obligations.

If a support payor lives outside Manitoba:

  • MEP may choose to register the support order with the enforcement program in the jurisdiction where support payor lives. A letter will be sent to both parties if MEP proceeds with the registration. Please note that this process takes time.
  • Once a file is open in both jurisdictions, MEP will work with the other enforcement program to manage the file.
  • Support payors may continue to communicate with Manitoba MEP until the enforcement program in your area contacts you.
    • If enforcement action becomes necessary, the enforcement program where the support payor lives will take action based on its laws and enforcement methods.
  • Any payments collected will be forwarded to the enforcement program where the support recipient is registered.

If a support recipient lives outside Manitoba:

  • If the support payor lives here and the support recipient lives outside of Manitoba, the support recipient should register with the maintenance enforcement program where they live. That program will contact us about collecting the support payments on their behalf.

If a support recipient lives in Manitoba:

  • Please register with MEP and we will communicate with the enforcement program in the support payor’s jurisdiction on your behalf.

If both parties live outside of Manitoba:

  • If at the time of registration both parties live outside of Manitoba, MEP will not open a file except in exceptional circumstances.
  • Manitoba MEP is unable to maintain an open file if neither party resides in Manitoba, except in exceptional circumstances.
  • Please contact MEP if your address changes and for more information on registering with the program in your area

Changing a support order or agreement when one party lives outside Manitoba

  • The Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders Act and the Divorce Act (Canada) allow a person living in Manitoba to apply to change their support order or agreement when the other party resides in another jurisdiction that Manitoba has a reciprocal arrangement. An ISO application is submitted to the designated authority in Manitoba to be forwarded to the authority in the jurisdiction where the other party lives. Please note this process may change if you live outside of Manitoba. For more information, please visit Family Law Manitoba’s Support Where the Other Person Lives Outside Manitoba webpage.
  • A lawyer may be able to inform you of other legal options that may be available. For information on how to find a lawyer, visit Family Law Manitoba’s Legal Support webpage.
  • Parties registered with MEP may also consent to a change to the amount of support enforced through an Agreement to Change Support Obligations. This does not legally change your court order. Please see Agreement to Change Support Obligations page for more information.

Other support enforcement programs

MEP has arrangements with the provinces and territories, states and countries listed below. If the jurisdiction you’re looking for is not listed, enforcement tools may be limited and make collection more difficult.

Canada United States International
Alberta
British Columbia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Northwest Territories
Nova Scotia
Nunavut
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Yukon
All states
American Samoa
District of Columbia
Guam
Puerto Rico
United States Virgin Islands
Australia
Austria
Czech Republic
Germany
Guernsey, Alderney and Sark
Isle of Man
Jersey
Malta
Norway
Poland
Slovak Republic
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Barbados
Fiji
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Ghana
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Hong Kong