The Family Law Act, The Family Support Enforcement Act and The Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders Amendment Act received Royal Assent on June 1, 2022.
The legislation includes two new acts and an amended act. The two new acts repeal The Family Maintenance Act and replace it with The Family Law Act, which governs the rights and duties of family members and The Family Support Enforcement Act, which regulates the enforcement of support obligations.
The province’s Family Support Enforcement Act that comes into effect July 1, 2023, gives the provincial government the authority to request information from any person, government or other entity — including a pension plan administrator — about a child support payor’s pension, pension benefit credits or pooled registered pension plan.
In addition, if a child support deduction notice is served, the notice binds the support payor’s pension benefits as if they were wages, in the same manner as a garnishing order binds pension benefits.