This letter was published in The Straits Times on March 8 2021.

We are heartened to see efforts by the Family Justice Courts and Ministry of Social and Family Development to strengthen the enforcement of maintenance orders and simplify the process of serving summonses (More efforts to deal with maintenance defaulters, March 1).

Enforcing maintenance remains challenging, especially when the defaulting spouse is elusive.

Court proceedings to enforce an order, if required, can also be time-consuming, stressful and costly.

The Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) has encountered numerous women facing such difficulties.

In Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam’s written reply to Sembawang GRC MP Poh Li San’s parliamentary question on the issue last November, he said the number of applications for enforcement of maintenance made under the Women’s Charter was 2,527 in 2017, 2,422 in 2018 and 2,295 in 2019.

Valuable court time should not be used for securing the implementation of orders already issued by the courts.

We support the introduction of a separate body to facilitate the enforcement of maintenance orders and handle other related matters.

This has already been implemented in other countries such as Finland and Canada.

The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, which is empowered to handle the enforcement of maintenance, also pays child support to parents receiving maintenance if their former spouse can pay only partially or not at all.

Other measures can also be put in place to lower the incidence of non-payment. For example, in Britain, defaulters may have their driving licence suspended or revoked.

The Family Court of Australia may order a property to be temporarily placed in a sequestrator’s hands.

The sequestrator can collect rent, takings or profits of a business, or prevent persons from entering the property, and pay amounts owed to the spouse receiving maintenance.

Such proactive enforcement will help to reduce the stress that women experience and improve families’ quality of life.

Lee Yoke Mun, Research Executive, AWARE