How you get child maintenance from an ex-partner who lives abroad normally depends on which country they live in. There are different arrangements for:

• EU countries and Australia
• other countries

The parent the child doesn't live with is called the 'paying parent'. The parent or person the child lives with is called the 'receiving parent'.

When a paying parent lives abroad, the Child Support Agency (CSA) and Child Maintenance Service can only help if they work for certain types of organisation.

The CSA and Child Maintenance Service can only help if the paying parent who lives abroad is:

• a civil servant
• working in Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service
• a member of the Armed Forces
• working for a company that is based and registered in the UK
• working on secondment for a ‘prescribed body’, like a regional health authority or local authority

Contact the Child Maintenance Service or CSA for more information on how they can help.

One of you lives in the European Union (EU)

All EU countries must enforce:

• court orders for child maintenance
• decisions made by the Child Support Agency (CSA) and Child Maintenance Service

They can do this if either:

• one of you lives in the EU and the other lives in the UK
• the paying parent has valuable assets located in the EU - eg property, cars or money

EU countries can also make paying parents pay CSA and Child Maintenance Service debts if the money owed was from when both parents lived in the UK.

The paying parent lives in Australia

If you live in the UK and the paying parent lives in Australia, the Australian CSA might be able to help.

The UK has agreements about recognising and enforcing child maintenance orders with over 100 countries. These are known as ‘Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders’ (REMOs).

Download 'Countries with reciprocal maintenance arrangements with the UK' (PDF, 41KB)

Child maintenance orders made by courts in the UK can be registered and enforced in these countries.

Child maintenance orders made by courts in these countries can be registered and enforced in the UK.

Getting an order enforced

To get an order enforced, contact the court where it was made.

To apply for a court order if you don’t already have one, contact your local magistrates’ court (in England and Wales) or sheriff court (in Scotland). You can also ask foreign authorities to create a court order for you.

What happens next depends on where you live.

England and Wales

The court will send your case to the REMO unit, which deals with the foreign court on your behalf. You don't need a solicitor.

Scotland

The court that made the order will send your case to the Justice Directorate. You’ll need to use a solicitor.

Some of the REMO arrangements other countries have with the UK don't apply to Scotland.

You can find out more about REMOs if you live in Scotland on the Scottish government website.