article_snippet: In a paper yesterday it said that it was time 'to bring pressure to bear on those who refuse to meet those who refuse to meet their obligations under a family financial order obligations under a family financial order.'
article_snippet: it was time 'to bring pressure to bear on those who refuse to meet their obligations under a family financial order added that making husbands pay would save the state many millions of pounds in welfare payments.
article_snippet: But, the Commission said, husbands frequently fail to comply with Around 90,000 family financial orders either because husbands can't pay or husbands won't pay.
article_snippet: Making husbands pay is complicated, bewildering and expensive, and often efforts to do so do not work.
article_snippet: the consultation paper said: 'the consultation paper would not be used in a way that would unduly impact on the debtor's ability to earn a living as that would defeat the whole point of the order.
article_snippet: To tell the difference between what the Commission termed 'can't pay' and 'won' t pay' debtors, the consultation paper said the courts should be able to apply to HM Revenue and Customs for information about employment and earnings.
article_snippet: On the one hand, this intrudes on the privacy of the debtor and offends the idea of the parties moving on and living separate lives, which is an aspiration of the law in this area,' this said. '
article_snippet: The Law Commissioner who produced the paper, Professor Elizabeth Cooke, said: 'The law governing the enforcement of family financial orders is hard to understand and difficult to use. '
article_snippet: When the courts cannot enforce family financial orders, the courts can lead to real hardship for former partners and children and place a huge burden on the state. '
article_snippet: We need to understand whether existing mechanisms for enforcement are working as well as enforcement might, what other powers the courts might use to tackle non-payment, and how we can find better solutions for couples when one partner is able to pay but refuses to do so.'