Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1975 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Orders Made by Courts Inreciprocating Countries
8. Enforcement of maintenance order registered in Singapore court
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A registered order may be enforced in Singapore as if it had been made by the registering court and as if that court had had jurisdiction to make it; and proceedings for or with respect to the enforcement of any such order may be taken accordingly.
registered order
“registered order” means a maintenance order which is for the time being registered in a court in Singapore under this Act;
[Deleted by Act 18 of 2023 wef 16/01/2025]
[Deleted by Act 18 of 2023 wef 16/01/2025]
Any person for the time being under an obligation to make payments pursuant to a registered order must give notice of any change of address to the clerk of the registering court, and any person failing without reasonable excuse to give such a notice shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500.
registering court
“registering court”, in relation to a registered order, means the court in which that order is for the time being registered under this Act;
The Family Court by which an order is enforceable by virtue of this section, and the officers of that Family Court, are to take all such steps for enforcing the order as may be prescribed.
court
“court” includes any tribunal or person having power to make, confirm, enforce, vary or revoke a maintenance order that is enforceable by a civil court of competent jurisdiction;
In any proceedings for or with respect to the enforcement of an order which is for the time being registered in any court under this Act, a certificate of arrears sent to the prescribed officer of the court is evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.
certificate of arrears
“certificate of arrears”, in relation to a maintenance order, means a certificate certifying that the sums specified in the certificate is to the best of the information or belief of the officer giving the certificate the amount of the arrears due under the order at the date of the certificate or (as the case may be) that to the best of the officer’s information or belief there are no arrears due under the order at that date;
Subject to subsection (8), sums of money payable under a registered order are payable in accordance with the order as from the date on which the order was made.
The court having power under section 7 to confirm a provisional order may, if it decides to confirm the order, direct that the sums of money payable under the order are deemed to have been payable in accordance with the order as from such date (being a date later than the date on which the order was made) as it may specify; and subject to any such direction, a maintenance order registered under that section is to be treated as if it had been made in the form in which it was confirmed and as if it had never been a provisional order.
provisional order
“provisional order” means (according to the context) —(a)an order made by a court in Singapore which is provisional only and has no effect unless confirmed, with or without alteration, by a competent court in a reciprocating country; or(b)an order made by a court in a reciprocating country which is provisional only and has no effect unless confirmed with or without alteration, by a court in Singapore having power under this Act to confirm it;