failed to pay maintenance after court order
Good morning,
I am separated for more than 2 years and i always had a problem with my ex paying maintenance. I did go to court 2 times and i thought it was resolved and he only paid for 2 months and then he told me he got retrenched. i then did go to court after ten working days and the lady told me that he is not working so she can not help me.
i really urgently need advice because there is so much more going on. I don’t want my child to sleep over anymore because last night i caught him buying drugs while my daughter was visiting there.
i don’t know what to do any more because he gets away with everything. He does not care about the court order. He is such a bad influence to Janita(our daughter) and the court told me i am not aloud to keep her from him but i do not want my child exposed to his bad habits and he has anger issues.
He hasn’t paid maintenance for more than two months now and i really need help urgently please. even if i can just get advice so that i know what to do
Your help will really be appreciated.
Thank you very much
Regards
Bonita
Category: Family Law, Children's Rights
Region: South Africa, Gauteng
1 Answer
“I then did go to court after ten working days and the lady told me that he is not working so she can not help me”. To address your post permit me to ask who was this lady you refered to.
Amended by author 15th November 2017, 14:48
The lady has no authority whatsoever to advise you in the manner that she did. To start with, failure to pay maintenance in terms of a maintenance order is a criminal offence. He should be arrested. The enquiry as to why he has not been paying is the duty of the court only, not the lady. Your ex must as a matter of fact go to court and make his reason known to court. What you can do is to go to the police station in the area where you reside with your child and open a case of non-compliance with a maintenance order. Go with copy of the order as granted by the court. Regarding the issue of buying banned substances in the presence of your daughter, go to a family court in the area where you reside and apply for exclusive guardianship of your daughter. Tell the court about the incident and others(if any). The procedure is very simple and you do not need a lawyer unless you want to. I have no doubt the clerk at the court will be very helpful to you.