Child maintenance if one of the parents lives abroad :Cross Stitch – Parents

The Child Support Agency (CSA) can usually help with child maintenance when both parents and the child live in the UK. Find out more about what help is available when one of the parents lives abroad, including information about Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO).

For the CSA to deal with an application for child maintenance, both parents and the children should live in the UK.

The CSA can still help if the non-resident parent lives abroad, if they are:

  • working in the service of the crown – for example if they are a civil servant or work within Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service
  • a member of the Armed Forces
  • working for a company that is based and registered in the UK
  • working on secondment for a prescribed body, like a regional health authority or local authority

The non-resident parent is the parent who the child does not normally live with.

For more information, contact the CSA.

There may be circumstances when:

  • the non-resident parent lives in Australia
  • the parent with care lives in the UK

The parent or person with care is the parent or carer who the child normally lives with.

In these circumstances, the Australian CSA may be able to help with child maintenance.

You can get more information about what to do when the non-resident parent lives in Australia, using the following link.

Parents with a court order for child maintenance can try and get this enforced in a foreign country. If you want to do this, you will need to contact the court where the order was made.

Parents with care can also ask foreign authorities to create an order for child maintenance on their behalf. If you want to do this you will need to contact your local magistrates’ court (or sheriff court in Scotland).

Find your local court using one of the following links.

The UK has international agreements with more than 100 countries about child maintenance. These arrangements are called Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO).

If a REMO is put in place, it means that:

  • child maintenance orders made by UK courts can be registered and enforced in other countries
  • child maintenance orders made in foreign countries can be registered and enforced by UK courts

If you want to try and put a REMO in place, you need to do one of the following things:

  • contact the court where the order was made if you already have a court order for child maintenance
  • contact your local magistrates’ court if you haven’t got a court order (sheriff court in Scotland)

What happens next depends on whether you live in England or Wales, or in Scotland.

If you live in England or Wales

The court will send your case to the REMO unit who will deal with the foreign court on your behalf. You don’t need a solicitor.

If you live in England or Wales, you can find out more about REMO using the following link.

If a court order already exists, the court which made it will send your case to the Justice Directorate.

If a court order doesn’t exist, you can get one by either:

  • applying to your local sheriff court
  • applying directly to the court in the country the other parent has moved to

You will need to use a solicitor if you live in Scotland.

Some of the REMO arrangements other countries have with the UK don’t apply to Scotland.

If you live in Scotland you can find out more about REMO using the following link.