Measures to Help Families Recover Defaulted Alimony Payments
Ministry of Social and Family DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns measures to recover defaulted alimony payments and support families, as raised by Mr Desmond Choo. Minister Desmond Lee reported that maintenance enforcement applications decreased to 2,651 in 2016, noting that maintenance is primarily a family responsibility. The Ministry of Social and Family Development uses the Maintenance Record Officer (MRO) scheme to identify wilful defaulters and assist the Court in determining harsher penalties. This scheme was enhanced in 2017 to provide early intervention and refer complainants in financial need to Social Service Offices for assistance. Since November 2017, these updated measures have supported 148 complainants with minor children through improved enforcement and financial assistance referrals.
Transcript
22 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the current percentage of divorced spouses who have defaulted on their alimony payments; (b) how is the Ministry assisting families to recover such payments; and (c) how can we better support families during such times of difficulties.
Mr Desmond Lee: There were 2,651 maintenance enforcement applications filed at the Family Justice Courts in 2016, down from 2,753 in 2015 and 2,927 in 2014. These comprise enforcements for spousal, ex-spousal and child maintenance, and we do not have a breakdown for divorces only.
The maintenance of spouses, ex-spouses and children is fundamentally a family responsibility. To assist families to obtain the maintenance they need, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has implemented the Maintenance Record Officer (MRO) scheme to identify defaulters who seem to wilfully default on their maintenance obligations. This provides greater clarity for the Court, in deciding whether to impose harsher penalties to deter future wilful defaulting.
Maintenance default may occur for a multitude of reasons, such as where the defaulter faces financial hardship. To better support families in such circumstances, MSF has enhanced the MRO scheme by introducing a new early intervention point to assist complainants when they file an enforcement application at the Family Justice Courts. MROs concurrently assist spouses or ex-spouses in financial need by referring them to Social Service Offices for financial assistance. As of 29 December 2017, 148 complainants with minor children have been assisted through this new intervention point, since the scheme was first implemented on 13 November 2017.