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8 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m for parents who do not pay, should be increased. As well, cases that are dif- ficult to enforce will be handled differ- ently by designating staff positions to specifically handle them. The possibil- ity of having a designated enforcement investigation unit to help collect pay- ment in challenging cases is also being explored. "The minister has said more aggressive enforcement is needed," says Acting Deputy Minister of Justice Tilly Pillay. Legislative amendments may be necessary in some cases. One area where improvements are needed and statutory changes may be necessary is payment orders that specify how much money is to be collected. Frequently — and often out of necessity — these are vague. An order may state, for exam- ple, that a parent is to pay 50 per cent of special expenses. "But 50 per cent of what?" asks Pillay. "From an adminis- trative perspective, this is a nightmare." How specific sums can be tallied and included has not yet been deter- mined. "We're really at the early stages," says Pillay, but that is the goal. In the absence of new legislation to address such changes, information sessions for lawyers may be held. An existing handbook created for lawyers may also be updated. The vagueness in some cases may reflect the nature of family law and the environment in which lawyers work. "In family law situations, it's a very emotional time," notes Pillay. "You may craft an order to make someone happy, but from an enforcement perspective, it just doesn't work." She notes that the Justice Depart- ment is also considering how tracing individuals who have defaulted could be improved. This could include requiring information such as a per- son's social insurance number or their mother's birth name. "This might enable us to narrow our search," Pillay says. The Justice Department also acknowledges its efforts to consolidate four regional maintenance enforce- ment offices into one central office located in New Waterford, Cape Breton has been problematic. Many employees did not want to make the move to the new location. "We lost 75 per cent of our officers. We lost 75 per cent of our staff," says Pillay. A fully trained team is now up and running. In 2014-15, there were 14,575 cases enrolled in the maintenance enforce- ment program, and $52.6 million was collected and disbursed. Currently, 63 per cent of Nova Scotians who are enrolled in the program receive full payments every month and 85 per cent of the money owed to support children is being paid. These collection rates are in line with the national average. — DM \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP Improving maintenance enforcement in N.S. Continued from page 7 REACH ONE OF THE LARGEST LEGAL AND BUSINESS MARKETS IN CANADA! With more than BOBWFSBHFPG,000 page views and ,000 unique visitors monthly canadianlawlist.com captures your market. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Colleen Austin: T: 416.649.9327 E: colleen.austin@thomsonreuters.com www.canadianlawlist.com AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT Untitled-4 1 2015-10-29 1:11 PM

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