The role of the Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP) is to monitor and/or enforce court-ordered maintenance. Once a file is registered with MEP, MEP has a legal obligation to attempt to collect the support as set out in the court order.

It is not possible for MEP to change the amount of support due and payable each month. If either the creditor or debtor wishes to change the amount of support paid, they will need to vary the court order. This can be done in one of two ways:

• By consent: A consent order is a court order agreed to by both parties; or
• By application: Where the parties do not agree on the variation in support, an application can be made through the court to settle the issue. This application is brought in the court that originally issued the court order, unless:
• the applicant is applying for a variation under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act. This includes filing an application in Alberta that will be heard by a court in another jurisdiction, or obtaining a provisional order in Alberta to be confirmed by a court in another jurisdiction; or
• an application is first made to change the venue on either a temporary or permanent basis.

What the court will consider

The court will consider changing an order for spousal and/or child support when there has been a change in circumstances since the previous order was made. Examples of significant changes include a change in the number of children dependent on the parties, a change in employment that results in a long-term change in income, a change in access costs, or a change to the extraordinary expenses incurred for children named in the order.

The judge may also consider the debtor’s ability to pay the current maintenance and may change an order based upon full financial disclosure, as well as any other factors required by the legislation under which the order was made.

If there is a change to the legislation under which the order was granted, the courts may consider this as significant. The coming into effect of the Federal Child Support Guidelines on May 1, 1997 is considered to be a significant change in circumstances for child support orders granted under the Divorce Act prior to May 1, 1997. Likewise, the coming into effect of Alberta Child Support Guidelines on October 1, 2005 may be considered a significant change in circumstances for orders granted under provincial legislation before October 1, 2005.

How to proceed

Parties wishing to vary their court order should consult with a lawyer for more information. For those who do not have a lawyer, other resources are available to assist in making an application. These information sheets are available through MEP’s website at www.albertamep.gov.ab.ca or through the MEP Info Line at 780-422-5555 (dial 310-0000 for toll-free access from anywhere in Alberta):

Info Sheet - Referrals to Resources
Info Sheet - Family Law Information Centres

If you file an application to vary your support order, you must ensure that MEP is served with the Notice of Motion (or Claim) and a supporting Affidavit (or Statement). Although MEP does not provide a lawyer for either the creditor or debtor in these situations, counsel will typically appear on behalf of the government (Crown) if any of the Crown’s rights to maintenance or arrears are affected.

Once the court grants a variation, the parties or their legal counsel should provide MEP with a filed copy of the order as soon as possible so that MEP can adjust its records appropriately.

Global support orders

A global child support order is an order (like those given under child support guidelines) which sets a total amount of money to be paid for the support of a number of children instead of setting an amount per child. For example, a global support order would require the debtor to pay “$600 for the support of the children instead of “$300 per child for each of the children”.

Clients sometimes ask MEP to adjust the amount of support it collects under their global support order when one of the children becomes ineligible for support. It is important for clients to understand that MEP cannot make this adjustment without a new court order. In the example above of a global support order, MEP is required to continue to collect $600 per month even if one of the children turned age 18 and got a full-time job. There are two exceptions to this:

• where the creditor provides MEP with written instructions to collect a lesser amount, in which case MEP staff will collect the lesser amount for as long as they are instructed by the creditor to do so; or
• where the child ceases to reside with the creditor and becomes dependent on (resides with) the debtor, in which case the Director of Maintenance Enforcement can exercise discretion to collect a lower amount of maintenance, so long as the court order was granted under child support guidelines.