The Family Supports Orders Service (FSOS)
Children need love
and support from both parents even after their parents separate or divorce.
Child support helps pay for children's basic needs, like food, shelter, shoes,
clothes and school supplies. It can also help pay for a few extras, like sports
and music lessons. All these things help children grow up happy and healthy.
The Family Support Orders Service is here to make sure that Kids Come First!
The
FSOS (Family Support Orders Service)
The FSOS promotes a
dependable flow of family support payments to children. It helps parents pay
child support regularly, on time and in full. Every year in New Brunswick,
parents pay more than $30 million in child support to their children through
the Family Support Orders Service. That's what the FSOS is all about--helping
parents support their children.
Once the amount of
child support is set (either by the court or through a mutual agreement between
the parents), the order is automatically filed with the FSOS for enforcement.
Usually, the custodial parent receives the child support on behalf of the
children.
The FSOS also works
in partnership with the Department of Family and Community Services (FCS) to
help families receiving income assistance. The goal is to secure consistent
child support payments to help the families prepare for greater
self-sufficiency.
The FSOS is available free of charge to all New Brunswick families with a family support order or agreement.
More than 14,000 New Brunswick families are registered with the Family Support Orders Service (FSOS).
Approximately 2000 employers help the FSOS collect child support payments through automatic wage deduction.
The FSOS has agreements across Canada and in many other countries (including the USA) to collect and enforce child support orders when one of the parents lives outside New Brunswick.
The FSOS is a
program administered by the New Brunswick Department of Justice, in partnership
with FCS.
One Family's Story
"When my ex-husband and I separated, it was hard because he didn't pay any child support. But I have to hand it to him--he now pays child support every week through the FSOS. The kids know he's paying and that makes them feel good. The Family Support Orders Service was a great help.
"Trying to raise two children with no support from their father was tough. I couldn't do it all on my own. We had to ask for income assistance for a few months because we just didn't have enough money coming in to survive.
"Things really turned around for us when the child support payments started arriving. It helped knowing the FSOS staff was working on our case. That's a lot easier to take than constantly checking the mailbox to see if the family support cheque is there! After they talked to my ex- husband, he agreed to ask his employer to deduct his child support from his pay cheque.
"'Think of your children!' That's what I always tell other parents going through this for the first time. It was hard to be amicable at the time, but I knew that it would be better for our children in the long run. You have to put your kids first. Don't be afraid to ask for help--the FSOS specializes in helping families."
- from a mom who's been there