The Maintenance Enforcement Program’s (MEP) mission and vision
MEP’s mission is to help families achieve compliance with maintenance orders. We look to a future where individuals accept and meet support obligations.

MEP’s responsibilities
MEP will enforce maintenance once the debtor (payor), creditor (recipient) or Crown (government) has registered with MEP. Although there is generally no cost to clients for MEP’s enforcement services, service fees, penalties and interest may apply in some cases. MEP will:

• keep clients’ personal information confidential
• collect payments from the debtor and forward them to the creditor
• review a child’s eligibility for maintenance collection, at the request of the debtor.

MEP provides extensive information about our services at www.albertamep.gov.ab.ca. We also offer clients account information 24 hours a day through our website’s MEP Accounts Online and our automated phone system, the MEP Info Line.

MEP does not obtain court orders for clients and cannot change the amount of support ordered by a court. MEP also does not provide legal representation to clients.

Creditor’s responsibilities
To register with MEP, creditors need to complete a registration package and provide a copy of their maintenance order. Creditors must keep MEP informed of:

• changes in the creditor’s mailing address and telephone numbers
• changes in the child’s status that may make the child no longer eligible for maintenance (e.g. child doesn’t live with creditor, or child over age 18 is not in school full-time)
• any information the creditor may have that could assist MEP in collecting, such as details of the debtor’s location, telephone numbers, employment or assets
• when the creditor begins or stops receiving Income Support

Creditors should not accept any payments directly from the debtor once a file is registered. To avoid penalties, the creditor must report all direct payments within 7 days by using either the MEP Info Line or MEP Accounts Online.

Debtor’s responsibilities
Debtors wishing to register with MEP need to complete a registration package and provide their maintenance order. To avoid penalties and interest, all payments must be made to MEP on time according to the maintenance order. If this is not possible, the debtor needs to make a payment arrangement with MEP staff or apply for a variation to the order.

To avoid the risk of collection actions and having to pay twice, debtors should not make any payments directly to a creditor. The debtor also needs to keep MEP informed of:

• changes in the debtor’s phone numbers, address, employment or banking information
• changes in the child’s status that may make the child no longer eligible for maintenance (e.g., residence, education status, over age 18)
• any anticipated problems such as late payments

Access to children
In Alberta, child access and maintenance are treated as separate matters. If a debtor is not receiving access, MEP still requires child support to be paid. MEP also encourages creditors to live up to their court orders for access, even if child support is not being paid. Although MEP does not deal with access disputes, our website provides information on the laws and services that help parents who are denied access to their children.

Uncollectible orders
MEP cannot guarantee the collection of funds. Some support orders cannot be successfully enforced due to such factors as:

• court order is unclear
• debtor has no assets or income that can be collected by MEP
• inability to locate the debtor or the debtor’s resources
• stay of enforcement has been ordered by the court
• debtor resides in another jurisdiction, where no reciprocal agreement exists
• debtor has passed away

How payments are made or received
Payments to MEP are best made by deductions from the debtor’s pay cheque or bank account, or by telephone or Internet banking. As MEP operates through a trust account, payments must clear the bank before MEP can deposit them directly into the creditor’s bank account. Most employer payments are cleared in one day, while MEP allows up to 5-7 days for clearance of payments from the debtor’s bank.

Steps MEP can take to collect maintenance payments
Debtors are asked to contact MEP promptly to make payment arrangements. If arrangements are not made, MEP can take collection action that includes:

• attachment of funds owed to the debtor by an employer, bank or the federal government
• registrations against property and reporting to the Credit Bureau
• withholding access to driver’s licences, vehicle registrations and abstracts
• restriction of recreational hunting and fishing licences
• canceling driver’s licences and passports
• requiring a debtor to appear at MEP’s offices or at a court default hearing
• court order to seize assets hidden in the name of a business, family member or friend

* Dial 310-000 for toll-free access anywhere in Alberta.