Dianne Gillies

The moving party father brought a motion for a refraining order to enjoin the Director of the Family Responsibility Office from applying to suspend his passport due to child support arrears.

The moving party claimed he was unemployed and needed to travel to Algeria to visit his ill mother.

The court dismissed the motion, finding it had no discretion to interfere because the moving party had not entered into a payment plan or satisfied the Director that he was unable to pay the arrears.

Furthermore, the court noted that even if it had discretion, it would have denied the motion because the moving party did not come to court with clean hands, having prioritized discretionary expenses over child support.

Two consolidated default hearings under the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act concerning a payor's failure to pay child support arrears in two separate cases.

The payor claimed inability to pay due to business difficulties and suspension of his driver's licence.

The court found the payor had not rebutted the statutory presumption of ability to pay, noting his pattern of non-compliance with court orders, his substantial business revenues, and his comfortable lifestyle.

The court imposed final default orders requiring immediate imprisonment for 90 days in each case or until partial arrears payments were made, with additional imprisonment for future defaults.