a guide to child maintenance

© National Committee for Families and Children

June 2006

Contributors:Starla Acosta, Judith Alpuche, Aimee Jex,

Margaret Nicholas, Tylon Tillett

Resources: Families and Children’s Act 2000, The Belize Family Court, The

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Design and Printing:DOLPHIN PRODUCTIONS LTD.

C h i l d M a i n t e n a n c e i n B e l i z e

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FOREWORD

This booklet “A Guide to Child Maintenance in Belize” was

developed with the idea of providing an explanation of

the child maintenance system in Belize.

The booklet is intended to provide a step-by-step guide

for persons seeking maintenance and an explanation of

the procedures that persons seeking maintenance for

children must follow.

The information included in the booklet comes from:

• The Families and Children’s Act

• The Convention on the Rights of the Child, and

• The Belize Family Court Manual

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C h i l d M a i n t e n a n c e i n B e l i z ec

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword i

Table of Contents ii

Applying for Maintenance 1

Maintenance Procedures In Belize City 3

Maintenance Agreement 4

Maintenance Order 5

Setting up a Maintenance Agreement 6

Setting up a Maintenance Order 11

Maintenance ProceduresIn the Districts 13

Consequences for Non-payment 14

Changes in Maintenance Payments 16

Fact Sheet 18

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MAINTENANCE OF CHILDREN

WHAT IS MAINTENANCE?

When parents separate and the relationship between them ends, their obligation to provide support for their children continues. All children are entitled to this support whether or not their parents were married.

The parent’s duty to provide financial support for their children takes priority over all their other commitments, except for supporting themselves and any other person they have a legal duty to support, such as a child born from another relationship.

After separation, one parent is usually responsible for the day-to-day care and protection of the child. This parent is usually the one who requests financial support from the other parent and is called the Applicant in this book. The other parent, the Respondent, is usually responsible for making payments to that first parent to help to support the child. This payment is called maintenance.”

Children are therefore entitled to be maintained by their parents or by other persons who are legally responsible for them.

According to the laws of Belize, every person under the age of eighteen (18) years is considered a child and is unable to maintain him or herself because of their young age.

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Children are entitled to be maintained until:they legally marry or legally enter employment, orthey turn 16 years (if their parents were married), orthey turn 18 years (if their parents were not married), or beyond the age of 18 if they are disabled or in school full time.

The Laws of Belize say that:

EVERY WOMAN must maintain

1. her own children and

2. her grandchildren, if their parents are unable to maintain them due to illness, disability or in the event that the parents cannot be located.

EVERY MAN must maintain

1. his own children, whether or not he is married to their mother,

2. the children that his w i f e may have (stepchildren) living with her at the time of their marriage, as long as the children are under the age of 18 years, and

3. his grandchildren, if their parents are unable to maintain them due to illness, disability or in the event that the parents cannot be located.

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APPLYING FOR MAINTENANCE

WHO CAN APPLY FOR A MAINTENANCE ORDER?

MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES IN BELIZE CITY

In Belize City, all maintenance applications are made through the Belize Family Court. The other districts do not have family courts, therefore the application process is different. (For the application procedures in the districts, refer to section entitled “Maintenance Procedures in the Districts”.)

When applying for maintenance, the Applicant must discuss his/her options with an Intake Welfare Officer of the Belize Family Court. The Intake Welfare Officer will assist the Applicant to explore and determine which option is best for the Applicant based on the situation presented.

There are two ways of applying for maintenance in Belize City.

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THE MOTHERTHE FATHER

THE GUARDIAN


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The Applicant can either make a…

1. Maintenance Agreement:

The Belize Family Court’s goal is to bring parents together so that decisions can be made in a peaceful way that serves the best interests of the children involved. A. Maintenance Agreement:

• is made with the understanding and cooperation of both parents instead of being decided and ordered by a Magistrate.

• may receive more support and the conditions are more respected by both parents because they developed it and agreed on it together.

• encourages constructive communication between the parents in the best interest of the child.

• helps to build a better relationship between parents.

• is quicker and easier to finalize.

• is easily changed if circumstances change.

This is a friendly agreement that is made between the two parents with conditions and rules made up and decided together by both parents in the best interest of the child.

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OR a

2. Maintenance Order:

• It becomes necessary to make a Maintenance Order when:

• the Respondent is totally uncooperative or refuses to pay maintenance.

• the Respondent does not respond to the notification letters sent by the court.

• the Respondent does not agree to an amount to be paid for maintenance.

• the Respondent has repeatedly broken the conditions agreed upon in the voluntary agreement order.

• The Applicant chooses this option first.

After speaking with an Intake Welfare Officer about their personal situation, the Applicant should be better able to make an educated decision on whether he/she wants to seek a Maintenance Agreement or a Maintenance Order.

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The conditions of a Maintenance Order are decided upon by a magistrate.


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SETTING UP A MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT

The person that is interested in setting up a voluntary Maintenance Agreement (the Applicant) must tell the Intake Welfare Officer what they wish to do. This is called the “action plan.”

1. The Intake Welfare Officer records the situation of the Applicant, explains the procedure, and completes an Intake Record.

2. A notification letter is then sent to the Respondent through the post office or delivered by the Court to the Respondent’s address. This letter requests that the Respondent attend a meeting with the Intake Welfare Officer.

3. If there is no response, a second notification letter is sent.

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The Belize Family Court does not recommend what type of application is to be made. That decision is left entirely up to the Applicant


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4. If the Respondent attends the meeting with the Intake Welfare Officer, he/she must first agree to two things before the process can go any further:

a) that he/she is the parent of the child for whom maintenance is being sought and b) that he/she agrees to provide maintenance for the child.

If the Respondent is in agreement with these two things, then the process can continue.

5. The Intake Welfare Officer will organize a meeting with both parents to discuss:

the amount of maintenance to be paid, andthe terms of maintenance, that is when and how often the payments will be made.

This information is then recorded in the Maintenance Agreement.

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6. If the Respondent agrees that she/he is the parent of the child, she/he is asked to sign an Acknowledgement Form.

7. The Respondent is now responsible for going to the Court on agreed dates to pay the agreed amount of maintenance to the cashier. Each time a payment is made, the Respondent is issued a receipt.

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If the Respondent

• does not respond to either of the two notification letters from the Court,

• says he/she is not the parent of the child,

• does not agree to an amount to be paid for maintenance, or

• misses payments agreed upon under the Maintenance Agreement;

Then the Applicant has the following options:

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• Support the child alone without the Respondent’s assistance,

• Take the Respondent to court to prove paternity,

• Take the Respondent to court to gain maintenance, or

• Leave the court to consider the situation and decide on the best course of action.


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In cases where the respondent misses a payment UNDER the maintenance agreement, the Intake Welfare Officer may remind the respondent of his/her obligation or can inform the applicant of their options to make an application for a maintenance order. Under a voluntary agreement, the court cannot issue penalties.

In cases where the Respondent is taken to court to prove paternity, the Court will also determine the rate of maintenance payments.

Image 1—Sample Application for Maintenance

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SETTING UP A MAINTENANCE ORDER

If efforts to make a voluntary Maintenance Agreement have failed, then the Applicant can choose to pursue a Maintenance Order.

1. The Applicant must meet with the Intake Welfare Officer to request a hearing. The court recommends that the Applicant bring the following documents;

• Social Security card,

• marriage license, and

•thechild’sbirthcertificate.

These documents can assist the Court and speed up the process.

2. The Applicant must pay a small fee to the court for the issuing of a summons to the other parent (the Respondent) to attend a court hearing.

3. At this hearing, the magistrate will decide the amount of maintenance to be paid, how often it will be paid, and the dates of payment.

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The factors considered when deciding how much the Respondent will pay are:

• Both parents’ current income

• Both parents’ living expenses

• Bothparents’financialdutiestoother children (if there are other children)

• the number of children to be maintained

• age, sex and health of the children to be maintained.

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MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES IN THE DISTRICTS

The Family Court does not have branches in the districts, therefore, the application procedure is different . One major difference is that Voluntary Agreements cannot be made in the districts.

APPLYING FOR MAINTENANCE IN THE DISTRICTS

The Applicant must go to the Magistrate’s Court in the district where he/she resides and must bring the following documents:

• SocialSecuritycardorbirthcertificate,

• marriagecertificate,andthe

• child/children’sbirthcertificates.

2. The Applicant for maintenance must inform the Clerk of Court that he/she is interested in applying for maintenance. In the districts, Applicants and Respondents do not have the opportunity of making a voluntary agreement since there are no Intake Welfare Officers to facilitate the process.

3. The Clerk of Court then fills out an Information of Complaint Form.


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4. The Applicant must then pay a summons fee.

5. The summons to attend court is then passed to the Police Department. The Police Department then issues the summons to the Respondent to ensure his/her attendance in Court.

6. If the Respondent does not attend court, then a warrant is issued for his/her arrest.

7. These procedures are executed within two to three weeks.

During the court session, the magistrate decides the details to the maintenance payments: how much the Respondent will pay and the dates that the payments are to be paid.

CONSEQUENCES OF NOT PAYING MAINTENANCE

Once a maintenance order is made, either by the Family Court or the Magistrate’s Court, the Respondent, by law, MUST pay maintenance as outlined in the order.

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If maintenance is not paid the magistrate can decide to take the following actions.An Attachment Order can be made to the Respon-dent’s and forwarded to the Family Court for mainte-nance payments.

A distress warrant can be ordered by the Magistrate that can cause the assets of the Respondent to be seized and sold. The profits of which will be used to meet the maintenance payments.

If there is no other way for the maintenance payment to be made, then the Respondent can be imprisoned. An alternative to imprisonment is Community Service

The magistrate, with the agreement of the respondent, can order him or her do a certain number of hours of Community Service.

No new arrears will be added to the outstanding amount while the Respondent is imprisoned.

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MAY I REQUEST FOR A CHANGE IN

MAINTENANCE PAYMENTS?

In the event of a change in circumstances, the Applicant or Respondent may apply to the court for a Variation Order to increase or decrease the amount to be paid. This can only be done by the Court (or by a Magistrate where an order was issued).

A parent may apply for a Variation Order if:

• The child develops a chronic and costly illness.

• The child’s level of education increases (e.g. when the child graduates from primary school and startshighschool)anddemandsmorefinance.

• The child requires more food and clothing due to growth.

• The cost of living increases.

Or if the Respondent

• becomes physically or mentally sick, or

• can justify a decrease in maintenance payment due to a decrease in salary or responsibility to other children changes, in case of an expanding family.

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The Applicant may also take action against the Respondent in the event of a change in circumstances; however, it is advisable that the Applicant seek advice from the Intake Welfare Officer before doing so.

The court may only cancel the whole or any part of any sum due under an order if the person responsible to pay was prevented from doing so due to an illness or mental disability.

Despite what happens between the parents of a child, the child’s needs are the first priority. Remember, when parents disagree, the child is always caught in the middle, because he or she longs for the love and attention of BOTH parents.

Let us work together to ensure that the needs of our children are met, and that decisions are made in the best interest of our children.

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FACT SHEET

The current maximum paid to a child under the Married Person’s Act is $50.00. (Chapter 175)

The parent to pay maintenance (respondent) is bound by the ruling of the court and the laws of Belize to pay the maintenance of the child according to the decisions made in the court order.

The fee for the summons process is currently $2.50 in Belize City and all districts Magistrate Courts.

According to the Families and Children’s Act, children with disabilities are entitled to the maximum maintenance.

An order against a parent shall cease to have effect if that parent is granted custody of the child for whom the maintenance was being paid or if the order is revoked.

Parents are still liable to pay maintenance if their child is in foster care or in an institution. The government may apply for maintenance.

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Court Address Location Telephone Fax

Belize 3rd Floor Belize City 227-4114 227-0068Family Commercial 227-4107Court, Center, Albert Street

Belmopan Market Square Belmopan City 822-2445 822-0968Magistrate Court

Benque Viejo del Carmen Benque Viejo 823-2631 823-2632Magistrate del Carmen Court Town

Corozal 5th Avenue Corozal Town 422-2340 422-0116Magistrate Court

Orange Walk Hospital Orange Walk 322-2265 322-0485 Magistrate Crescent Town Court

San Ignacio 2nd Floor, San Ignacio 824-2515 824-4269Magistrate Administration TownCourt Bldg, King St.

Stann Creek Sisters of the Dangriga 522-2251 522-0056Magistrate Holy Family Avenue Court Toledo Administration Punta 722-2017 722-2566Magistrate Bldg. Gorda TownCourt Front Street

CONTACT INFORMATION

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The National Committee for Families and Children62 Cleghorn Street Belize City, BelizeTel: (501) 223-0059 (501) 223-1180

Fax: (501) 223-1229 Email: [email protected]

“Championing the rights and welfare of Belizean families and children.”

a guide to child maintenance

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