Making Support Payments Directly – Applying for an Exemption
You can make your support payments directly to the recipient, without going through us. To be able to do this, you and the support recipient have to agree to apply for an exemption.
Requirements
Mutual consent
You and the support recipient must agree that the payments should be made directly and not through us. The court must be satisfied that both parties have given free and informed consent.
Security
An exemption can only be granted if you provide security.
The security provided must cover one month's support. You have 30 days from the date of the judgment to provide the security. If security is provided in cash, we pay you interest on the amount at the rate set by law.
If you and the support recipient agree that the payments should be made directly and not through us, you may be able to submit a joint application for an exemption to the court while your proceedings are in progress. You can speak to a legal advisor, who can also help you complete the legal documents for the application.
If you get help from a legal advisor, they must file the application for an exemption with the court on your behalf. If the application is accepted, the terms will be included in the judgment.
If you prepare the application on your own, clearly show that you and the support recipient agree that the payments should be made directly.
If a judgment already determines the amount of support you pay, you can submit your application for an exemption to the special clerk of the Superior Court.
You and the support recipient must make a joint application and clearly show that you both agree that the support payments should be made directly.
Submit your application for an exemption to the Office of the Superior Court at the courthouse. To find the nearest courthouse, go to the Trouver un palais de justice page on the Ministère de la Justice du Québec website.
You can apply for an exemption only once in a support file. If your exemption in a file ended, you cannot apply again in that file.
End of the exemption
The exemption can end in any of the following situations:
- You are not paying the support as set out in the agreement. To inform us, the support recipient can send us a completed copy of the Application for Cessation of Exemption (form PPA-104-V) by registered mail.
- You and the support recipient apply jointly to end the exemption. To apply, you can send us a completed copy of the Application for Cessation of Exemption (form PPA-104-V) by registered mail.
We must return the security to you at your request, but will do so only if the following conditions are met:
- You have been exempted for at least two years.
- You have no arrears or other fees or charges owing as at the date of the request.
- The support recipient agrees to the security being returned.
The support recipient has to complete and send us form PPA-70-V, Consent to Have Security Returned: Exemption, to let us know that they agree to the security being returned.
The return of security under such conditions does not affect the support judgment; the support recipient retains the right to notify us that you are not making your support payments.
We return any unused security to you if you are no longer required to make payments under a new judgment, provided any arrears and other fees or charges owing have been paid.
If the support obligation ends as the result of an agreement between you and the support recipient, you must have the court confirm the agreement. We will return the security to you after receiving the judgment.