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Bill introduced to streamline family hearings, allow court to check finances of ex-spouse not paying maintenance

SINGAPORE — Family court proceedings may soon be simpler and more efficient for people involved in cases if a Bill introduced in Parliament on Thursday (April 20) is passed. Among other changes, it aims to streamline the enforcement of spousal and child maintenance payments.

The Bill aims to make family proceedings simpler and more efficient for those involved. It is also intended to help reduce the acrimony involved.

The Bill aims to make family proceedings simpler and more efficient for those involved. It is also intended to help reduce the acrimony involved.

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  • A Bill has been introduced in Parliament that, if passed, would simplify family court proceedings and applications, including the enforcement of maintenance payments
  • In the event of a lapse in payment, the Family Justice Courts could obtain information needed to determine the financial circumstances of an ex-spouse
  • The Bill is aimed at helping to make court procedures simpler for families to understand and give better support to those unable to afford legal representation
  • Another aim is reduce the acrimony involved in family court hearings

SINGAPORE — Family court proceedings may soon be simpler and more efficient for people involved in cases if a Bill introduced in Parliament on Thursday (April 20) is passed. Among other changes, it aims to streamline the enforcement of spousal and child maintenance payments.

The Family Justice Reform Bill is also intended to reduce acrimony in family proceedings, and ensure a fair outcome without undue delay, complexity and cost.

If passed, the Bill will amend various pieces of legislation such as the Family Justice Act, the Women's Charter and the Guardianship of Infants Act.

The proposed reforms are part of "continuous efforts" by the Ministry of Law (MinLaw), the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Family Justice Courts to better assist families "to heal and move on with their lives", especially those seeking spousal and child support payments from their ex-spouses, the two ministries said in a statement on Thursday.

For example, in the event of a lapse in maintenance payments, the Family Justice Courts could obtain financial information on ex-spouses and their assets to determine if the person has the means to pay but refuses to do so, or is unable to make payment due to financial difficulties.

The Bill is aimed at ultimately strengthening the judicial aspects of the Family Justice System to help make procedures simpler to comprehend and provide better support for those who may not be able to afford legal representation, MinLaw and MSF said.

It amends primary laws to support the upcoming revamp of the Family Justice Rules that will simplify the rules of family court proceedings.

PROPOSED REFORMS FOR FAMILY COURT PROCEEDINGS 

The Bill proposes five key reforms to be made to the Family Justice Courts' proceedings, all of which focus on the safety and well-being of a child caught up in court hearings.

These reforms may grant the courts and judges authority to:

  • Disallow the additional filing of applications or documents in support of any existing court application if it is likely to disrupt the outcome of the case, or have an adverse effect on a child's welfare
  • Make legal and substantive orders when necessary
  • Conduct interviews with a child when their wishes are to be considered by the court
  • Impose restrictions during a case hearing, if the questioning of a vulnerable witness is deemed intimidating or oppressive

Another key reform for the proceedings is to simplify certain words or terms used by the court, to make applications and documents easier for families to understand.

These changes include the term "defendant" to be replaced by "respondent", and "plaintiff" to be replaced by "applicant".

PROPOSED MAINTENANCE PAYMENT ENFORCEMENT PROCESS 

The Bill also looks at improving the application process tied to the enforcement of maintenance payments. 

The Family Justice Courts said that there are an average of about 2,700 applications for the enforcement of maintenance payments every year. 

Right now, when making the application, divorced spouses without legal representation have to go through a tedious and resource-intensive process to find evidence to support their claim, including filing a discovery application with the courts, MinLaw and MSF said.

They added that applicants have to spend a significant amount of time filing multiple applications and attending physical and virtual court hearings, which can mean losing a day's wage for those who are working hourly. 

Under the proposed changes in the Bill, divorced spouses would be given an option to file their application online, which would help them save time and reduce the number of trips required.

With many divorcees facing the non-payment of financial support, the Bill proposes a new maintenance enforcement process that aims to help tackle cases — especially where children are involved — and the main caregiver earns little or no income and is relying on the maintenance payment to cover daily expenses.

Instead of having to make multiple formal applications, the maintenance enforcement process would potentially allow the courts to vary a maintenance order without the need for a formal application.

The maintenance enforcement process looks at simplifying applications through several new measures, such as the proposed formation of a unit of maintenance enforcement officers.

These officers would be given the authority to assist in the process by:

  • Obtaining necessary information about a defending spouse's assets and means directly from government agencies, banks and the Central Depository (a unit under the Singapore Exchange that holds the shares and related funds for investors), in order to better determine their financial circumstances
  • Referring defending spouses to suitable financial aid and other forms of support to help with maintenance payments if they are facing financial difficulties
  • Conducting a conciliation process to help divorced spouses reach an amicable out-of-court settlement, or find favourable solutions to better facilitate a maintenance payment agreement

If the conciliation process fails, a court hearing may be set for the defending spouse to present a "show-payment order" to prove that maintenance payment has been made since the case was filed against him or her.

Should there be a failure to produce the show-payment order, the courts may be able to issue an arrest warrant for the defending spouse.

Under the maintenance enforcement process, the Bill also introduces the use of "rebuttable presumption" to help applicants who may have difficulty finding evidence to prove a spouse's intention to re-distribute or sell their assets to avoid making maintenance payments.

This means that if certain conditions are met, the spouse in question will be presumed to have intended to dissipate assets to frustrate a maintenance claim.

With this new process, the ministries hope that the main caregiving spouse will be able to obtain the maintenance payments due to them in a timely and efficient manner, and be able to provide for the daily needs of their families.

Related topics

divorce Family Justice Courts maintenance

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