REMO

[Ewissa]

Hello all.Did anyone has experience with Remo -child maintenance from abroad? How long it took?

Hello, I am on early stages of application with remo; so far so good.
-I applied on 19th April,
-received forms on 5th may 2022 I sent back same day
-received acknowledgement on 14th May,
-case reviewed by the legal team with feedback by 8 June 2022
-sent back the remainder docs today

therefore so far less than 2months, I’d say pretty prompt for a public service entity with one lawyer assigned to review applications for the entire London (that’s what I was told!)

Feedback from legal team:
Your application has been reviewed by our Legal Advisor. Please see comments below:

“In this matter as the respondent has now re-located to Spain, the applicant should not include a London address as his residential and postal address at part 4 of the Annexe C. She should instead include any information she has as to his whereabouts in Spain. If she doesn’t have any information other than that he is now living in Spain, she can simply write in Spain, but she will also need to complete a form CJ22 to apply for special measures to trace a residential and/or postal address for him.

On the Annexe E She will need to complete part 3 on the 1st page. She also needs to record any assets either at VD of the form or the restricted information form at the back. If she has no assets she should write “none” by VD.

Please return the forms to her with blank copies and also a blank CJ22. She will also need to send in the original birth certificates so that we can take certified copies”.

Any update on your REMO application? Has it gone through? I’m just wondering how long it takes.
Thanks

Any update on your REMO application @Morgana123 and @Ewissa ?

@Okapimum good afternoon, my apologies for late response. I know how anxious this time is in our lives. I was waiting for my FDA in London before I replied to you.
well, remo is useless for my reason one which they caveat all the provisions ie nothing guaranteed, closing your CMS before proceeding etc. it takes over 3 months to get CMS to close a case! Bless the public se for in the Uk.

instead I did my research and discovered that I could apply for schedule 1 of Children act given it has passed 12 months since my divorce and he is outside CMS jurisdiction.

as such I applied using a1 form paid £275. The act provides defined timelines (attached) so I have had my fda which I paid lawyers to review the e1 form I completed, questionnaire, statement of facts, chronology I completed. I can give you template of them all for free if you want.

i represented myself at fda snd fdr we didn’t have to move to high court. Justice has been served, I won my case on periodical payments and maintenance arrears (under lumpsum). If he fails to make payments I can apply for deduction from earnings in Spain via my order. I doubt he would allow it go that far given he is a managing director in a major bank despite being a cowards bastard.

good luck x

@Morgana123 Thanks for sharing your experience here! And I am glad you and your child got the justice your deserved! It was definitely quicker than going through REMO. And well done for representing yourself!
I haven’t considered going down that route, but I will definitely look into it. In my case, we have a Spanish court order in place, which is what I’m trying to get enforced. But maybe following your steps and getting one on England is the way to go.

Thank you. :-) Not sure the ins and outs of your situation but trust me, those lawyers cannot justify the work they do with the fortunate they charge!

@Morgana123 I agree, especially family solicitors. I have represented myself in family court in the past, while my ex spent £12K just in 1 hearing! So I’ll definitely continue representing myself.

Ridiculous! Clearly he had his priorities right… paying £12k to lawyers instead of towards the kids 👌👍 I am hoping I am raising two men not cowards like their father. I cannot believe I was married to that man… the regrets, the anger, the resentment consumed me for 5 years until I decided to fight for justice and stop being his muppet! Well, I still have 4 kids to raise while he is sipping pila colada in Spain! I love my angels though , so much … good luck and stay strong 💪❤️

Hi @Morgana123 , can I ask you something not related to REMO? Don’t worry if you rather not share this here, I’d understand.
When the kids visit the father abroad, does he do both ways (i.e. he collects them from the UK and then brings them back), or you have to do 1/2 of the trip (for instance, fly abroad to bring them back to the UK)? In my case, it’s a split job (I fly there to get the kid back) - which I think is unfair as he was the one who moved abroad. I’m thinking on requesting a change on family court, but I’m not sure what the judge would think about it. Thoughts?

Hi there. I wanted to find out about REMO process?
As father of child has left the country and he was taking his time to provide info to cms probably because he knew he was leaving also have a FDA scheduled next month in uk
kind of curious of the REMO process will I have to close cms And start REMO or they can just transfer my case over ?
And how long does it take ?

and anyone with experience with the family courts ?

Hi @Babyblueelala, has the father moved to a participating REMO country? You can find a list of REMO countries here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/countries-where-you-can-enforce-child-maintenance-decisions

If the father is in a REMO country, then you can apply for a REMO. And yes, you will need to close the CMS application.

The whole process can take years — partly because MEBC is outdated and short-staffed, but also because once the application reaches the other country, it is out of the UK’s hands, and there is nothing they can do to speed up the process. In my case, the paying parent was only notified three years after I started my REMO application. That was seven months ago, and I still haven’t received any updates from REMO.

It is a very slow process, and communication with REMO is appalling. So I advise you to start as soon as possible. It will take weeks just to receive the forms in the post. Make sure you fill out and sign all parts of the form carefully, as even a small mistake can cause delays.

You can also find more information and support in the Facebook group called "Get Child Maintenance from Abroad (REMO)."

@Babyblueelala I have experience self-representing in the UK Family Court. DM me if you need any help.

Thank you for your response. It sounds like a long process. I applied for cms September last year and I’ve only just receivedy first schedule but now he’s being transferred to turkey so all the time energy was for nothing! It’s so disheartening. I guess the only thing that’s looking up is the fda in a few weeks