Registering Child Support Orders with the MEO

The MEO:

• registers support orders and agreements;
• records and monitors payments; and
• takes enforcement action when the required payments are missed or late.

Registration helps to ensure that parents do not have to deal directly with one another when it comes to support payments. The MEO can also enforce missed or late payments and keep track of any payments that have been made.

The MEO's purpose is to enforce support payments. It does not help with disputes regarding access and visitation issues. The MEO cannot release any personal information on recipients, payors or dependents. If you make a written request, the MEO will contact the other party to ask permission to release the information to you.

The MEO is located in Regina, but it serves the entire province.

The MEO cannot guarantee that payments will be made. However, 75 per cent of recipients registered with the MEO receive their support payments each month. This is among the highest rates in Canada.

Payors can pay by:

• pre-authorized withdrawal;
• personalized cheque;
• money order;
• certified cheque;
• postdated cheque;
• bank draft;
• cash;
• online banking; or
• debit card at the MEO.

These payments are to be delivered to the MEO, who will ensure the payment is forwarded to the recipient. Cheques, money orders or bank drafts can be made payable to the recipient unless otherwise instructed by the MEO.

Cash and debit card payments are only accepted in person at the MEO (1st Floor, 3085 Albert Street, Regina) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

The MEO does NOT collect the following payments:

• Support that is expressed as a percentage of someone's income or a percentage of the total expense.
  • For example, a payment for child care expenses that is expressed in an order or agreement as "the payor will pay 55% of the child care expense each month" is not sufficiently clear for the MEO to monitor or enforce. This does not mean that the amount is not due and owing, but rather, that the MEO will only collect and enforce if the order or agreement states the dollar amount.
• Support that requires calculation each year, based on an exchange of tax returns or financial information between parties.
  • The MEO will not get involved in calculating what the amount should be. The MEO will continue to collect the previous amount in the order until it is advised that the new amount has been calculated.
• Amounts owing under a property settlement.
• A non-support debt.

The MEO will review the file and decide what enforcement action should be taken. Action, through The Enforcement of Maintenance Orders Act, 1997, may include:

• garnishing (taking money from) the payor’s wages, other income or bank account;
• garnishing payments that the payor may receive from the federal government, such as Employment Insurance, Canada Pension, Old Age Security, grain advances, Revenue Canada refunds, or GST rebates;
• enforcing the order or agreement against a corporation that is owned either solely by the payor or by the payor and related family members;
• reporting the payor to a credit bureau;
• seizing and selling the payor's personal property, such as a vehicle;
• putting a lien on real estate that the payor owns to prevent the payor from selling, remortgaging or leasing it without making payment arrangements with the MEO;
• attaching pension contributions that the payor has made;
• suspending the payor's driver's licence, passport, or hunting or angling licence; or
• requiring the payor to appear in court to explain why payments have not been made. The judge presiding over the default hearing may make an order to put the payor in jail for up to 90 days for contempt of the support order or agreement.

There is no minimum amount of money that must be left for the payor after an enforcement action is taken. In the case of garnishment action, if there is not enough money available to satisfy the garnishment, the shortfall must be made up the next time a deduction is due.

Moving or Remarrying

If you or the other parent moves from Saskatchewan, you still need to make your support payments as the province has reciprocal (two-way) enforcement agreements with all Canadian provinces and territories, the United States and many other countries.

If you remarry and/or have other children, you still have an obligation to support all your children.

The Age of Majority in Saskatchewan

The age of majority in Saskatchewan is 18. In other provinces, the age of majority may be different.

Whether the child support order or agreement is under provincial law (The Family Maintenance Act, 1997) or federal law (the Divorce Act), the obligation to pay support may continue beyond the child's 18th birthday if that person is:

• under the recipient's charge; and
• unable – by reason of illness, disability, pursuit of reasonable education, or other cause – to:
  • withdraw from the recipient's charge; or
  • obtain the necessities of life.

In either situation, as long as adequate proof of the ongoing dependency is provided to the MEO, they will continue to collect the child support payments.

Registering with the MEO means that the payor should not be paying you directly because the MEO cannot monitor how much money is owed.

If, for some reason, the payor does pay you directly, please write or fax the MEO immediately and explain how much you received on the date it was received.

After you register, it cannot be guaranteed when you will receive payment, as each case is different.

To register your child support payments, you must send or bring the following documents to the Maintenance Enforcement Office (MEO):

• A completed Maintenance Enforcement Office Registration form. Please note that recipients must also submit a Direct Deposit form with the registration form, while payors must fill out a Direct Withdrawal form. Copies of these forms are also available from the MEO in Regina, the Court of King's Bench, Legal Aid or your lawyer.
• A copy of a current support order or agreement. The agreement must first be filed with the Court of King's Bench, and then a stamped copy must be brought or sent to the MEO.
• If you are a recipient, you will be required to fill out a List of Payments (a sworn document that reflects payments past due) once the file has been registered with the MEO.

Once your order or agreement has been registered, you will receive a letter that includes your account number and personal identification number (PIN). You will need to provide this information every time you contact the MEO.

The services offered by the MEO are free to recipients and payors. Some fees may be charged to payors to offset the costs of enforcement if enforcement action is necessary.

If you withdraw from the MEO, you can re-register at a later time. Either the recipient or the payor can apply to return to the maintenance enforcement program. Normally, only the registration form is required to reopen your file. However, if there is a new court order or agreement since you withdrew, a copy of these documents will be required to reapply.

If you have a child or spousal support order registered with the Maintenance Enforcement Office (MEO), you access your online MEO Account. Through your MEO Account, you can securely view your account information, including:

• account balance;
• payment activities; and
• active enforcements.

Your MEO Account is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by logging in to your Saskatchewan Account. You will need your case number and client PIN the first time you access your MEO account through your Saskatchewan Account. You will receive your case number and client PIN after registering your child support order with the MEO. If you have more than one case number, it does not matter which one you enter - you will be able to view information for all your cases.

The MEO Account replaces the Integrated Voice Response telephone system, providing a more modern approach to deliver the most up-to-date account information to MEO clients.

To access your MEO Account, you must have a Saskatchewan Account. A Saskatchewan Account is free to use and allows residents to securely access online government services.

Sign up or log in to check your account

Please note that your MEO Account will only provide the latest information on your account. If you need to provide information to the MEO, such as reporting direct payments, statement requests, etc., clients will still need to call or email the MEO. This service is not available through the MEO Account system.