Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1975

“affiliation order” means an order (however described) adjudging, finding or declaring a person to be the father of a child, whether or not it also provides for the maintenance of the child;

“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;

“certified copy”, in relation to an order of court, means a copy of the order certified by the proper officer of the court to be a true copy;

“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;

“maintenance order” means an order (however described) of the following descriptions:

“payee”, in relation to a maintenance order, means the person entitled to the payments for which the order provides;

“payer”, in relation to a maintenance order, means the person liable to make payments under the order;

“provisional order” means (according to the context) —

“reciprocating country” has the meaning given by section 17;

“registered order” means a maintenance order which is for the time being registered in a court in Singapore under this Act;

“registering court”, in relation to a registered order, means the court in which that order is for the time being registered under this Act;

“responsible authority”, in relation to a reciprocating country, means any person who in that country has functions similar to those of the Minister under this Act.

Where the payer under a maintenance order made, whether before or after 3 May 1976, by a court in Singapore is residing in a reciprocating country, the payee under the order may apply for the order to be sent to that country for enforcement.

Every application under this section must be made in the prescribed manner to the prescribed officer of the court which made the maintenance order to which the application relates.

If, on an application duly made under this section to the prescribed officer of a court in Singapore, that officer is satisfied that the payer under the maintenance order to which the application relates is residing in a reciprocating country, the following documents:

Nothing in this section is to be taken as affecting any jurisdiction of a court in Singapore with respect to a maintenance order to which this section applies, and any such order may be enforced, varied or revoked accordingly.

Where a complaint is made to a Family Court against a person residing in a reciprocating country and the complaint is one on which such court would have jurisdiction by virtue of any enactment to make a maintenance order if —

A maintenance order made by virtue of this section is a provisional order.

No enactment empowering a Family Court to refuse to make an order on a complaint on the ground that the matter in question is one which would be more conveniently dealt with by the General Division of the High Court applies in relation to a complaint to which subsection (1) applies.

Where a Family Court makes a maintenance order which is by virtue of this section a provisional order, the following documents:

A maintenance order made by virtue of this section which has been confirmed by a competent court in a reciprocating country is treated for all purposes as if the Family Court which made the order had made it in the form in which it was confirmed and as if the order had never been a provisional order, and subject to section 5, any such order may be enforced, varied or revoked accordingly.

This section applies to a maintenance order a certified copy of which has been sent to a reciprocating country pursuant to section 3 and to a maintenance order made by virtue of section 4 which has been confirmed by a competent court in such a country.

A court in Singapore having power to vary a maintenance order to which this section applies has power to vary that order by a provisional order.

Where the court hearing an application for the variation of a maintenance order to which this section applies proposes to vary it by increasing the rate of the payments under the order, the order varying that order is a provisional order unless either —

Where a court in Singapore makes a provisional order varying a maintenance order to which this section applies, the prescribed officer of the court must send in the prescribed manner to the court in a reciprocating country having power to confirm the provisional order a certified copy of the provisional order together with a document, authenticated in the prescribed manner, setting out or summarising the evidence given in the proceedings.

Where a certified copy of a provisional order made by a court in a reciprocating country, being an order varying or revoking a maintenance order to which this section applies, together with a document, duly authenticated, setting out or summarising the evidence given in the proceedings in which the provisional order was made, is received by the court in Singapore which made the maintenance order, that court may —

For the purpose of determining whether a provisional order should be confirmed under subsection (5), the court is to proceed as if an application for the variation or revocation (as the case may be) of the maintenance order in question had been made to it.

Where a maintenance order to which this section applies has been varied by an order (including a provisional order which has been confirmed) made by a court in Singapore or by a competent court in a reciprocating country, the maintenance order has, as from the date on which under the provisions of the order the variation is to take effect, effect as varied by that order and, where that order was a provisional order, as if that order had been made in the form in which it was confirmed and as if it had never been a provisional order.

Where a maintenance order to which this section applies has been revoked by an order made by a court in Singapore or by a competent court in a reciprocating country, including a provisional order made by the last mentioned court which has been confirmed by a court in Singapore, the maintenance order is, as from the date on which under the provisions of the order the revocation is to take effect, deemed to have ceased to have effect except as respects any arrears due under the maintenance order at that date.

Where before a maintenance order made by virtue of section 4 is confirmed, a document, duly authenticated, setting out or summarising evidence taken in a reciprocating country for the purpose of proceedings relating to the confirmation of the order is received by the court in Singapore which made the order, or that court, in compliance with a request made to it by a court in such a country, takes the evidence of a person residing in Singapore for the purpose of those proceedings, the court in Singapore which made the order is to consider that evidence and if, having done so, it appears to it that the order ought not to have been made —

This section applies to a maintenance order made, whether before or after 3 May 1976, by a court in a reciprocating country, including such an order made by such a court which has been confirmed by a court in another reciprocating country but excluding a provisional order which has not been confirmed.

Where a certified copy of an order to which this section applies is received by the Minister from the responsible authority in a reciprocating country, and it appears to the Minister that the payer under the order is residing in Singapore, the Minister must send the copy of the order to the prescribed officer of the appropriate court.

Where the prescribed officer of the appropriate court receives from the Minister a certified copy of an order to which this section applies, the prescribed officer must, subject to subsection (4), register the order in the prescribed manner in that court.

Before registering an order under this section, an officer of a court must take such steps as the officer thinks fit to ascertain whether the payer under the order is residing within the jurisdiction of the court, and if after taking those steps the officer is satisfied that the payer is not so residing, the officer must return the certified copy of the order to the Minister with a statement giving such information as the officer possesses as to the whereabouts of the payer.

This section applies to a maintenance order made, whether before or after 3 May 1976, by a court in a reciprocating country being a provisional order.

Where a certified copy of an order to which this section applies, together with —

In any proceedings for the confirmation under this section of a provisional order, the statement received from the court which made the order of the grounds on which the making of the order might have been opposed by the payer under the order is conclusive evidence that the payer might have opposed the making of the order on any of those grounds in the proceedings in which the order was made.

For the purpose of determining whether a provisional order should be confirmed under this section, the court is to proceed as if an application for a maintenance order against the payer under the provisional order had been made to it.

The prescribed officer of a court having power under this section to confirm a provisional order must, if the court confirms the order, register the order in the prescribed manner in that court, and must, if the court refuses to confirm the order, return the certified copy of the order and the documents which accompanied it to the Minister.

If a summons to appear in the proceedings for the confirmation of the provisional order cannot be duly served on the payer under that order, the officer by whom the certified copy of the order was received must return that copy and the documents which accompanied it to the Minister with a statement giving such information as the officer possesses as to the whereabouts of the payer.

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.

A registered order which has been registered or confirmed by a Family Court (or any other court in Singapore) is enforceable as if the order had been made under Part 8 of the Women’s Charter 1961.

To avoid doubt, section 121 of the Women’s Charter 1961 applies to a registered order which has been registered or confirmed by a Family Court (or any other court in Singapore) with the following modifications:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Subject to this section, the registering court —

The registering court is not to vary a registered order otherwise than by a provisional order unless —

The registering court is not to revoke a registered order otherwise than by a provisional order unless both the payer and the payee under the registered order are for the time being residing in Singapore.

On an application for the revocation of a registered order, the registering court, unless both the payer and the payee under the registered order are for the time being residing in Singapore, is to apply the law applied by the reciprocating country in which the registered order was made; but where by virtue of this subsection the registering court is required to apply that law, that court may make a provisional order if it has reason to believe that the ground on which the application is made is a ground on which the order could be revoked according to the law applied by the reciprocating country, even though it has not been established that it is such a ground.

Where the registering court makes a provisional order varying or revoking a registered order, the prescribed officer of the court must send in the prescribed manner to the court in the reciprocating country which made the registered order a certified copy of the provisional order together with a document, authenticated in the prescribed manner, setting out or summarising the evidence given in the proceedings.

Where a certified copy of a provisional order made by a court in a reciprocating country, being an order varying a registered order, together with a document, duly authenticated, setting out or summarising the evidence given in the proceedings in which the provisional order was made, is received by the registering court, that court may confirm the order either without alteration or with such alterations as it thinks reasonable or refuse to confirm the order.

For the purpose of determining whether a provisional order should be confirmed under subsection (6), the court is to proceed as if an application for the variation of the registered order had been made to it.

Where a registered order has been varied by an order (including a provisional order which has been confirmed) made by a court in Singapore or by a competent court in a reciprocating country, the registered order has, as from the date on which under the provisions of the order the variation is to take effect, effect as varied by that order and, where that order was a provisional order, as if that order had been made in the form in which it was confirmed and as if it had never been a provisional order.

Where a registered order has been revoked by an order made by a court in Singapore or by a competent court in a reciprocating country, including a provisional order made by the firstmentioned court which has been confirmed by a competent court in a reciprocating country, the registered order is deemed, as from the date on which under the provisions of the order the revocation is to take effect, to have ceased to have effect except as respects any arrears due under the registered order at that date.

The prescribed officer of the registering court must register in the prescribed manner any order varying a registered order other than a provisional order which is not confirmed.

Where a registered order is revoked by —

Where the prescribed officer of the registering court is of the opinion that the payer under a registered order has ceased to reside within the jurisdiction of that court, the prescribed officer must cancel the registration of the order and send the certified copy of the order to the Minister.

An applicant has the same right of appeal (if any) against a refusal by a court in Singapore to make a provisional order under any provision of this Act as the applicant would have had against a refusal to make the order had a summons been duly served on the person against whom the order is sought to be made.

Where pursuant to any such provision any such court confirms or refuses to confirm a provisional order made by a court in a reciprocating country, whether a maintenance order or an order varying or revoking a maintenance order, the payer or payee under the maintenance order has the like right of appeal (if any) from the confirmation of, or refusal to confirm, the provisional order as the payer or payee would have if that order were not a provisional order and the court which confirmed or refused to confirm it had (as the case may be) made or refused to make it.

Where pursuant to any such provision any such court makes, or refuses to make, an order varying or revoking a maintenance order made by a court in a reciprocating country, then, subject to subsection (1), the payer or payee under the maintenance order has the like right of appeal (if any) from that order or from the refusal to make it as the payer or payee would have had if the maintenance order had been made by the firstmentioned court.

Nothing in this section (except subsection (1)) is to be construed as affecting any right of appeal conferred by any other written law.

A statement contained in —

A document purporting to set out or summarise evidence given as mentioned in subsection (1)(a), or taken as mentioned in subsection (1)(b), is deemed to be duly authenticated for the purposes of that subsection if the document purports to be certified by the judge, magistrate or other person before whom the evidence was given or by whom it was taken (as the case may be), to be the original document containing or recording, or summarising (as the case may be), that evidence or a true copy of that document.

A document purporting to have been received in evidence as mentioned in subsection (1)(c), or to be a copy of a document so received, is deemed to be duly authenticated for the purposes of that subsection if the document purports to be certified by a judge, magistrate or an officer of the court in question to have been, or to be a true copy of a document which has been, so received.

It is not necessary in any such proceedings to prove the signature or official position of the person appearing to have given such a certificate.

Nothing in this section affects the admission in evidence of any document which is admissible in evidence apart from this section.

Where, for the purpose of any proceedings in a court in a reciprocating country relating to a maintenance order to which this Act applies, a request is made by or on behalf of that court for the taking in Singapore of the evidence of a person residing in Singapore relating to matters specified in the request, such court in Singapore as may be prescribed has power to take that evidence and, after giving notice of the time and place at which the evidence is to be taken to such persons and in such manner as it thinks fit, is to take the evidence in such manner as may be prescribed.

Evidence taken in compliance with such a request must be sent in the prescribed manner by the prescribed officer of the court to the court in the reciprocating country by or on behalf of which the request was made.

Where any person, not being the payer or the payee under the maintenance order to which the proceedings in question relate, is required by virtue of this section to give evidence before a court in Singapore, the court may order that there must be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament such sums as appear to the court reasonably sufficient to compensate that person for the expense, trouble or loss of time properly incurred in or incidental to that person’s attendance.

A court in Singapore may, for the purpose of any proceedings in that court under this Act relating to a maintenance order to which this Act applies, request a court in a reciprocating country to take or provide evidence relating to such matters as may be specified in the request and may remit the case to that court for that purpose.

Payments of sums due under a registered order are, while the order is registered in a court in Singapore, to be made in such manner and to such person as may be prescribed.

Where the sums required to be paid under a registered order are expressed in a currency other than the currency of Singapore, then, as from the relevant date, the order is to be treated as if it were an order requiring the payment of such sums in the currency of Singapore as, on the basis of the rate of exchange prevailing at that date, are equivalent to the sums so required to be paid.

Where the sum specified in any statement (being a statement of the amount of any arrears due under a maintenance order made by a court in a reciprocating country) is expressed in a currency other than the currency of Singapore, that sum is deemed to be such sum in the currency of Singapore as, on the basis of the rate of exchange prevailing at the relevant date, is equivalent to the sum so specified.

For the purposes of this section, a written certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of any bank in Singapore certifying that a specified rate of exchange prevailed between currencies at a specified date and that at such rate a specified sum in the currency of Singapore is equivalent to a specified sum in another specified currency is evidence of the rate of exchange so prevailing on that date and of the equivalent sums in terms of the respective currencies.

In this section, “the relevant date” means —

Where the Minister is satisfied that, in the event of the benefits conferred by this Act being applied to, or to particular classes of, maintenance orders made by the court of any country or territory outside Singapore, similar benefits will in that country or territory be applied to, or to those classes of, maintenance orders made by the courts of Singapore, the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, designate that country or territory as a reciprocating country for the purposes of this Act, and subject to subsection (2), “reciprocating country” means a country or territory that is for the time being so designated.

A country or territory may be designated under subsection (1) as a reciprocating country either as regards maintenance orders generally, or as regards maintenance orders other than those of any specified class, or as regards maintenance orders of one or more specified classes only; and a country or territory which is for the time being so designated otherwise than as regards maintenance orders generally is, for the purposes of this Act, taken to be a reciprocating country only as regards maintenance orders of the class to which the designation extends.

The Family Justice Rules Committee constituted under section 46(1) of the Family Justice Act 2014 may make Family Justice Rules to regulate and prescribe the procedure and practice to be followed in proceedings under this Act and any matters incidental to or relating to any such procedure or practice.

Without limiting subsection (1), Family Justice Rules may be made to prescribe —

The Family Justice Rules may, instead of providing for any matter, refer to any provision made or to be made about that matter by practice directions issued for the time being by the registrar of the Family Justice Courts.

All Family Justice Rules made under this section must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette.

The Minister may make regulations for giving effect to the provisions and purposes of this Act and for the due administration of this Act.

The powers conferred by this section do not extend to any matter for which the Family Justice Rules mentioned in section 18 may be made.