If the deceased was receiving or paying support, in your capacity as the liquidator of the succession, you must notify terminate a person's obligation of support. If the person who was paying the support dies, the person who was receiving support may, within six months, claim a contribution from the succession as support. She may claim a financial contribution even if the right to support was not exercised prior to the death.
Your first step is to contact the officer in charge of the support file at Revenu Québec to find out what happened in the event of a debtor's death.
The support-payment collection program is administered by Revenu Québec, which collects support payments from persons who owe support (debtors) and remits them to the persons to whom support is owed (creditors).
The program provides for 2 methods of collection, which may be applied alone or in combination. They are:
- source deduction
- payment order
Support is collected by source deduction when the debtor receives income on a regular or periodic basis (such as wages, a retirement allowance or disability benefits). The debtor's employer (or any other person who pays him or her money) remits the source deduction to Revenu Québec.
Support may also be collected by payment order, in cases where the debtor does not receive income on a regular or periodic basis, where the amount deducted at source is insufficient, or because the debtor has so requested. The debtor remits the money to Revenu Québec, while also providing security (see definitions).
Creditor or Debtor Residing Outside Québec
If the debtor resides outside Québec and is making payments regularly, the procedure continues to apply. If the creditor resides outside Québec, the debtor continues to make the support payment to Revenu Québec, which pays the creditor in Canadian currency twice a month, regardless of where he or she resides.
If the debtor resides outside Québec and is not making payments regularly, Revenu Québec and the Ministère de la Justice may take action. Through the reciprocal enforcement procedure for support payments, Québec judgments can be enforced in the following places:
- all provinces and territories of Canad
- the American states of California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Vermont
If the debtor resides in a location other than those mentioned above, the enforcement procedure cannot be used unless the debtor has property subject to seizure in Québec.
The program applies to judgments rendered as of December 1, 1995 for initial support. However, it is possible to obtain an exemption.
Persons subject to a judgment rendered before December 1, 1995 may, on certain conditions, apply to be covered by the program.
Exemption
Exemption from the program allows the debtor to pay support payments directly to his or her former spouse, without the involvement of Revenu Québec. Such an exemption may be granted by the court with the consent of both former spouses. They can request the exemption in one of the following ways:
- if they were married: at the beginning of divorce, separation or support proceedings, or after the judgment is rendered
- if they were common-law partners: in the course of support proceedings or after the judgment is rendered
Termination of Support Collection
Revenu Québec stops collecting support for a child or a former spouse in the following cases:
- The date is reached that is the end date indicated in the judgment awarding support.
- The debtor or creditor of support or the child dies.
- Support is cancelled by a court judgment (e.g. when the child is an adult and financially self-sufficient).
Security
Security is a guarantee of payment equal to payment of support for 1 month. It is usually an amount of money, but may also be an undertaking given by a financial institution (in the form of a letter of guarantee or a surety slip) to pay, on demand, the amount owed to Revenu Québec.
Support payments are made on the 1st and the 16th of each month, by cheque or direct deposit. They are adjusted on January 1st of each year.
The support-payment collection program came into force further to the adoption, on May 11, 1995, of the Act to facilitate the payment of support.
