The legal action we can take
If the non-resident parent lives in Scotland we start by applying to the sheriff for a liability order.This legally recognises there is a debt to be paid and means we can take further action.
In Scotland we were granted around 1,175 liability orders between February 2007 and January 2008, a 32% increase on the previous year.
Once we have got a liability order we then ask sheriff's officers to issue a demand for payment on our behalf. This gives parents 14 days to pay the money they owe, or 28 days if they are living temporarily outside the UK. If they do not meet this demand we take further legal action to get the missed child maintenance. We will then take the action we think will be most effective in each individual case. We can use more than one of our powers at a time.
We can:
Ask sheriff's officers to sell non-resident parents' belongings
This is known as an attachment. Sheriff's officers list and value items that:
- belong to a non-resident parent
- are kept outside their home, and
- can be moved.
This may include cars or motorbikes, or the contents of a garage or outbuilding.
If a non-resident parent is self-employed, the sheriff's officer can carry out an 'attachment' at their place of business.
The items on the list can then be sold at a public auction to get the money the non-resident parent owes as child maintenance.
If we can't get the money they owe this way, we can apply for an exceptional attachment and auction. Under an 'exceptional attachment', sheriff's officers value and remove items that:
- belong to the non-resident parent
- are kept inside their home, and
- can be moved.
The items on the list can then be sold to get the money the non-resident parent owes as child maintenance.
Between February 2007 and January 2008, 200 attachments were instigated.
Freeze money belonging to or owed to the non-resident parent
We can apply for an arrestment to freeze money belonging to, or owed to a non-resident parent on a given date. This includes stopping a non-resident parent from being able to receive money they are owed or from withdrawing the money frozen in their bank, building society or Post Office account. Once the money is frozen, we ask the non-resident parent to authorise the individual or business, bank, building society or Post Office to pay us the child maintenance that is owed. If they fail to do this we will go back to the court and order the non-resident parent to make the payment to us.
Between February 2007 and January 2008, 445 arrestments were instigated.
Stop the future sale or transfer of heritable property the non-payer owns
We can apply to the courts for an order against the non-resident parent to stop them selling or transferring any 'heritable property' they own. This is known as inhibition.
Heritable property includes houses, garages, business premises and land. This means that the non-resident parent cannot sell or transfer the heritable property until they pay the money they owe as child maintenance.
Between February 2007 and January 2008 we registered 885 liability orders this way.
Take away the non-resident parent's driving licence or send them to prison
If a non-resident parent has refused to pay the child maintenance they owe, we can apply to the courts for:
- an order of disqualification — this takes the non-resident parent's driving licence away from them or prevents them from getting a driving licence for up to two years, or
- a warrant of commitment — this sends a non-resident parent to prison for up to six weeks.
Even if the parent is disqualified from driving or sent to prison, they will still have to pay all of the money they owe.
Between February 2007 and January 2008, 565 non-resident parents received immediate or suspended prison sentences. A further 25 non-resident parents received immediate or suspended driving licence disqualifications.
