Child and spousal support

The Office of Support Enforcement (OSE) is responsible for monitoring and enforcing child and spousal support orders and agreements to ensure a steady flow of payments to families and children. Staff receive, record and forward payments and take steps when necessary to ensure they are made. Every year the staff collect more than $55 million for beneficiaries.

In New Brunswick, all support orders issued are automatically filed with the office. Once an order has been filed, staff mail a package containing directions and information. The beneficiary has eight days to opt out of the program and receive payments directly from the payer instead of using the office to collect their support.

Beneficiaries may opt into the program at any time by filing a Notice to File Support Order form.

At any other time during the lifecycle of a case, the payer or beneficiary may apply to withdraw by filing an Application To Withdraw from OSE form. 

As a beneficiary you have two options for receiving your support payments: 

Direct deposit

To be set up for direct deposit, please print the direct deposit form or contact the Justice Triage Centre at 1-844-673-4499 to request a form. Please send the completed form to:  

Office of Support Enforcement
Central Payment Unit
PO Box 6000
Fredericton NB
E3B 5H1

or [email protected]

Cheque

If you are unable to use the direct deposit option, a cheque can be mailed to you.   

Through SNB

In addition to over the counter payments at Service New Brunswick, you can now pay online or by calling 1-888-762-8600. 

Online

The Office of Support Enforcement can receive support payments made electronically. 

• Contact your online or telephone banking service provider 
• Set up your payment under bill payments as: “Family Support Province of NB” 
• In your search, use only the word “family” to find it 
• Use your account number, which begins with SE 
• You can also set up your payment as a recurring payment 

If you do not know your account number, call the Justice Triage Centre at 1-844-673-4499. 

By mail

Money orders, business cheques and certified personal cheques must be made payable to the Minister of Finance and may be sent by mail directly to the Central Payment Unit office in Fredericton: 

Office of Support
Central Payment Unit 
PO Box 6000 
Fredericton, NB 
E3B 5H1  

The office does not accept uncertified personal cheques. 

In person

In-person payments will only be accepted at Service New Brunswick  locations. Payments can be made in person with cash, money order, debit, Visa, MasterCard, certified personal cheque or business cheque. 

Through income source

You can arrange with your employer to have the amount of your regular support payments deducted from your income and forwarded to the office on an on-going basis. If you choose this method, you and your employer must complete the Notice of Arrangement with Income Source and return the signed original to the office.  (This form can be obtained by contacting 1-844-673-4499.) 

You may also request that the office arrange for deductions with your employer and/or income source through a voluntary payment order. This service is free. If you choose this option, you must provide the following information to the office: 

• Your employer’s name  
• Payroll contact name  
• Payroll contact phone number  
• Employer’s address  
• Employer’s e-mail (if applicable)  

Usually, payments received by the office are processed within 48 hours and are sent to the person receiving support by mail or direct deposit. 

Online

If you are a larger employer, with more than one or two support payments owed to the office, you can arrange to have these payments directly deposited into our account. To arrange for your support payments to be made electronically, please call the office at 1-844-673-4499.

Or

If you are an employer with only one or two payments to make to office, you can pay electronically through your bank by telephone or internet banking. You can set up recurring payments through this method. This option is best for smaller employers who are only making one or two payments to office, as each payment must be entered individually. The payee name is: “Family Support Province of NB.” 

By mail

Money orders, business cheques and certified personal cheques must be made payable to the Minister of Finance and may be sent by mail directly to the Central Payment Unit office in Fredericton: 

Office of Support Enforcement
Central Payment Unit 
PO Box 6000 
Fredericton, NB 
E3B 5H1 

We do not accept uncertified personal cheques. 

In person

In-person payments will be accepted at any Service New Brunswick location across the province. 

The office understands that there are circumstances that may make it difficult for you to make all your payments on time and in full. 

If you are having trouble making your scheduled support payments, you may need to obtain a new court order or agreement. We cannot do this for you, nor do we have the authority to change the terms of the order or agreement. 

Federal and provincial laws give the office the authority to collect overdue support payments, including by:

• initiating a payment order. Some examples of monies that can be garnished include wages, pensions, income tax refunds, GST credits, workers’ compensation benefits, and bank accounts, including jointly held accounts.
• Demand information about a payer’s location, contact information, salary, employment, assets, or any other information that is considered necessary to enforce the order. The information demands can be made to anyone and may be done through direct searches of designated information banks. Information demanded must be provided within 14 days.
• Report a payer to a credit bureau if the payer owes an amount greater than three months of support payments.
• Suspend or revoke a payer’s driver's licence if the payer owes an amount greater than four months of support payments.
• Make corporations liable for support owed by a payer if the payer or the payer’s family owns the corporation.
• Ask the federal government to suspend, refuse to issue, or refuse to renew the payer’s passport and/or federal aviation or marine licence if the payer owes an amount greater than three months of support payments OR greater than $3,000.
• Bring the case to court for a judge or court administrator to decide on additional enforcement action. This is called an enforcement hearing.

NOTE: The office cannot provide legal advice or act as a lawyer or counselor; change the amount of a support order or agreement based on changes in income; or become involved in parenting time or decision-making responsibility for the child.

Support variation: You must apply to have your support order changed. Information on the process is available online.