Difference between revisions of "Enforcing Family Law Agreements"

People who sign a family law agreement are signing a ''contract''. A contract is an agreement between two or more people that creates an obligation to do or to not do something. Other kinds of contracts include the rental agreement a tenant has with a landlord, the lease agreement you might have with a car company, or the employment contract an employee has with an employer. Contracts can be enforced by the courts when someone doesn't do what the contract requires of them; in fact, that's the whole point of having a contract. You want a document that describes your obligations to each other and you want to have a way of making the other party do what they're supposed if the party changes his or her mind later on.

This page discusses how family law agreements can be enforced by the courts and by the [[Family Maintenance Enforcement Program]], an agency of the provincial government that can help with the enforcement of agreements for the payment of child support and spousal support.  

Once filed in court, these agreements can be enforced under the ''Family Law Act'' in the same way as orders made under that act. The act has different ways of enforcing orders that change depending on the subject of the order (or agreement). Where the act provides a way particular way of enforcing an order, the order can be enforced under the that ''specific'' enforce power and by the act's ''extraordinary'' enforcement power. Where the act does not provide a particular way of enforcing an order, the order can be enforced under the act's ''general'' enforcement power and by its ''extraordinary'' enforcement power.  

These provisions apply to agreements about parental responsibilities, child support and spousal support.