We are getting divorced. I was paying maintenance for my children through the Child Support Agency, but when my wife took them to the Republic of Ireland last year the CSA decided they were outside their jurisdiction and closed the case. Will the English court issue an order for child maintenance if the mother and children continue to live outside the UK and I am unable to find out where they are?
If they’ve vanished you may find it difficult to proceed with the divorce, since the court will want to know that arrangements for the children have been settled before allowing the divorce to be finalised. As regards maintenance, if the CSA is no longer involved the English court could make a maintenance order which your wife could enforce by registering it in Ireland under the REMO (Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders) agreement.