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Parliament
MPs press for stricter measures to enforce maintenance payments
What to do when ex-hubbies... WON'T PAY
By Lediati Tan
September 17, 2009
HER ex-husband was ordered by the court to pay her more than $1,000 a month for maintenance almost two years ago.
But he has skipped the payments so many times that Madam Goh (not her real name) said she has applied to the courts five times to get him to pay up.
Today, Madam Goh, who is in her 30s, is still fighting to get her ex-husband to keep his end of the bargain.
The couple, with two children in primary school, separated in 2007. An interim maintenance order was issued to the husband late that year.
The divorce has yet to be finalised.
Women like Madam Goh were on the minds of MPs Cynthia Phua and Halimah Yacob when they raised questions in Parliament yesterday about ex-spouses seeking the courts' help for maintenance payments.
Responding, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said there were 2,860 applications for maintenance payments made by ex-spouses last year.
Fewer cases
The number is down from 3,021 in the previous year and 3,618 in 2006.
About 86 per cent of these cases were applications to enforce maintenance payments, Dr Balakrishnan added.
He noted that such applicants would need to visit the court at least three times.
'But the number of visits could increase for more complex situations,' he added.
Indeed, Madam Goh figured she has made about 25 trips to the court in the last two years just to get her ex-husband to pay up.
She stressed that the money is for her children. She earns about $2,000 a month working in the service sector, and said her ex-husband is well-paid, with a management-level job.
She is frustrated at having to go through tedious legal procedures, which could take months, every time her ex-husband defaults on payment.
Sometimes, when her husband fails to pay and she has trouble making ends meet, she would resort to borrowing from her family.
Madam Phua and Madam Halimah want the Government to do more to help women like Madam Goh.
Madam Halimah, who has seen a few such cases, told The New Paper that she doubts the drop in the number of maintenance order applications is a sign that things have improved.
'Maybe some women just gave up after successive efforts to get maintenance payment were unsuccessful,' she said, adding that some ex-husbands go to great lengths to avoid payment.
New agency
The Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) has called for a state-monitored agency to collect the payment on the women's behalf.
Said Ms Laura Hwang, chairman of SCWO's taskforce on enforcement of maintenance orders: 'A maintenance-services authority would relieve the claimant of a heavy load, as well as relieve the load on the courts' valuable time for what is essentially a debt-collection exercise.'
Madam Halimah agreed. 'At the end of the day, (ex-husbands) should have a sense of responsibility, at least to the children,' she said.
But family lawyer Wong Kai Yun wondered if such an agency would be duplicating existing court processes.
Another family lawyer, Mr Patrick Tan, suggested setting up a counselling bureau where parties can resolve the payment issues instead of going to court at the first instance.
Dr Balakrishnan told Parliament that the Government is looking at various ways to enhance the enforcement of maintenance payments - such as stiffer penalties and simplifying the process of seeking enforcement.
'Suggestions such as giving free access to marital records and making public the maintenance payments of divorcees to their former spouses and children are also being considered,' he said.
Parliament
MPs press for stricter measures to enforce maintenance payments
What to do when ex-hubbies... WON'T PAY
By Lediati Tan
September 17, 2009
HER ex-husband was ordered by the court to pay her more than $1,000 a month for maintenance almost two years ago.
But he has skipped the payments so many times that Madam Goh (not her real name) said she has applied to the courts five times to get him to pay up.
Today, Madam Goh, who is in her 30s, is still fighting to get her ex-husband to keep his end of the bargain.
The couple, with two children in primary school, separated in 2007. An interim maintenance order was issued to the husband late that year.
The divorce has yet to be finalised.
Women like Madam Goh were on the minds of MPs Cynthia Phua and Halimah Yacob when they raised questions in Parliament yesterday about ex-spouses seeking the courts' help for maintenance payments.
Responding, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said there were 2,860 applications for maintenance payments made by ex-spouses last year.
Fewer cases
The number is down from 3,021 in the previous year and 3,618 in 2006.
About 86 per cent of these cases were applications to enforce maintenance payments, Dr Balakrishnan added.
He noted that such applicants would need to visit the court at least three times.
'But the number of visits could increase for more complex situations,' he added.
Indeed, Madam Goh figured she has made about 25 trips to the court in the last two years just to get her ex-husband to pay up.
She stressed that the money is for her children. She earns about $2,000 a month working in the service sector, and said her ex-husband is well-paid, with a management-level job.
She is frustrated at having to go through tedious legal procedures, which could take months, every time her ex-husband defaults on payment.
Sometimes, when her husband fails to pay and she has trouble making ends meet, she would resort to borrowing from her family.
Madam Phua and Madam Halimah want the Government to do more to help women like Madam Goh.
Madam Halimah, who has seen a few such cases, told The New Paper that she doubts the drop in the number of maintenance order applications is a sign that things have improved.
'Maybe some women just gave up after successive efforts to get maintenance payment were unsuccessful,' she said, adding that some ex-husbands go to great lengths to avoid payment.
New agency
The Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) has called for a state-monitored agency to collect the payment on the women's behalf.
Said Ms Laura Hwang, chairman of SCWO's taskforce on enforcement of maintenance orders: 'A maintenance-services authority would relieve the claimant of a heavy load, as well as relieve the load on the courts' valuable time for what is essentially a debt-collection exercise.'
Madam Halimah agreed. 'At the end of the day, (ex-husbands) should have a sense of responsibility, at least to the children,' she said.
But family lawyer Wong Kai Yun wondered if such an agency would be duplicating existing court processes.
Another family lawyer, Mr Patrick Tan, suggested setting up a counselling bureau where parties can resolve the payment issues instead of going to court at the first instance.
Dr Balakrishnan told Parliament that the Government is looking at various ways to enhance the enforcement of maintenance payments - such as stiffer penalties and simplifying the process of seeking enforcement.
'Suggestions such as giving free access to marital records and making public the maintenance payments of divorcees to their former spouses and children are also being considered,' he said.
ask ex-wife claim from daughter's real father lah..
