FRO MISTAKES—Taken from Ombudsman January news letter

A man contacted our office after the FRO issued an order to garnish his Old Age Security payments and his federal pension, according to a court order from 1982. He disputed his ex-wife’s claim that he owed $62,000 in child support arrears, and noted that the children were now 38 and 42 years old. We worked with staff at the FRO, who recognized that more recent orders had reduced the man’s arrears to just over $4,000. They also decided to close the case and reimburse him $2,000 they had garnished after they were unable to get a response from the ex-wife about when the children had stopped being eligible for support

A father contacted us from jail after he was arrested for failing to pay child support arrears to the Family Responsibility Office. He was unaware that he owed any support, and he had custody of his child when he was arrested. Our review determined that the FRO’s notices were sent to the wrong address, even though his correct address was on file. After our intervention, the amount he owed in arrears was reduced, and the FRO sent him a letter of apology

A man contacted our Office because he suspected the Family Responsibility Office had miscalculated the amount he owed for child and spousal support by almost $3,800. He had written the FRO three times in the past 18 months, but it did not acknowledge his letters or adjust his account. After we looked into it, FRO staff confirmed their error. They adjusted the arrears and credited the man’s account $3,774.59. The man was very grateful and thanked the Ombudsman for helping resolve an issue he had been trying to address for years

A father complained to us that FRO had collected thousands of dollars of support payments from him for 14 years, even though his daughter was no longer in the care of her mother but had been made a Crown ward. FRO officials confirmed to us that they had received information in 2004 indicating that the girl was in the care of a children’s aid society, and they acknowledged they could have taken steps to gather information about her status at the time. They agreed to refund the man $4,100