I haven’t paid spousal support. How do I get a refraining order?
The (FRO) enforces payments in a:
- that is filed with the court and registered with the FRO for enforcement
If you miss payments, one of the things the FRO can do is ask the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to suspend your driver's licence.
If you're caught driving with a suspended licence, the police can impound your car for 7 days. There may be other penalties as well.
The FRO will mail you a document called a First Notice of Driver's Licence Suspension. Your driver's licence will be suspended 30 days after the date in the notice.
To stop this, you must:
- Contact the FRO and pay all arrears. This means you bring your payments up to date by paying what you owe.
- Contact the FRO and make a voluntary payment plan where you agree to a payment schedule you can afford. The FRO usually requires that you make your monthly support payments plus an additional amount toward the support owing.
- Go to court within 30 days and ask that your driver's licence not be suspended. This is called getting a refraining order.
You may decide to get a refraining order because:
- You cannot reach a payment agreement with the FRO.
- You believe that the amount of support you pay should be changed.
- You have already applied to change the amount of support you pay.
