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Dear Editor,
The Family Court Division in Antigua and Barbuda was created to protect children and uphold parental responsibility.
Yet its daily operations tell a different story. Parents who depend on child maintenance orders face systemic failures that place unnecessary hardship on families.
The Maintenance of and Access to Children Act, 2008 makes clear that both parents are legally responsible for the financial support of their children.
The Act empowers the court to:
- Issue maintenance orders to cover food, clothing, schooling, and medical care.
- Enforce payments through wage attachments or deductions from pensions.
- Issue warrants or levy distress on property when payments are overdue.
- Commit parents to prison if they repeatedly fail to obey maintenance orders.
The law gives the Family Court the tools to ensure that children do not suffer when one parent refuses to meet their obligations.
Despite the law, custodial parents are left to struggle. Maintenance payments are often late or not made at all. Warrants for non-payment are not consistently issued or enforced.
There is no modern tracking system to monitor compliance. Parents who try to get information from the court face unanswered calls or staff who cannot provide updates.
These failures are not minor. They mean children go without food, uniforms, or medical care. Custodial parents are forced to cover all expenses alone, often sinking into debt.
The very court tasked with protecting children instead enables neglect through administrative incompetence.
The Ministry of Legal Affairs, the Attorney General, and the Judicial Administration are responsible for ensuring that the law is applied as written. This requires:
- A digital case-tracking system for maintenance payments and arrears.
- Automatic enforcement of warrants and attachment orders for missed payments.
- Training for court staff on the law and their duties.
- Transparent reporting on how many orders are in arrears and what enforcement actions have been taken.
Every missed payment is more than a number. It means a child’s basic needs are not met. It means a single parent must work multiple jobs or depend on relatives. It means the Family Court is failing in its core mission.
The law already exists to protect these children. The problem is not a lack of legal authority — the problem is the failure to enforce it. Until the authorities act, the rights of the most vulnerable will continue to be ignored.
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The Antigua and Barbuda family court is operating illegally. The sitting magistrate operating as a magician and decide who is the father and who is not. That is illegal. Take a close look at the series PATERNITY COURT. When a mother take a supposed father to court for child maintenance, the magistrate should first make an order for a DNA test to prove who is that child father. After that test is done, the result or results from the Laboratory should be delivered straight to the magistrate. Then the magistrate will ser a dare for hearing and disclose who is the real father. The Attorney General should look into that immediately. All persons who are paying child maintenance through the court should have a review of their case and get DNA done. Too many children out there suffering for lack of support from their parents especially their fathers. Also too many fathers paying child support for children that are not theirs. Even if a man appear before a magistrate for child support and he admitted he is the father of a child or children, a DNA must be done to confirm that. Unless that is done, the family court is operating illegally
Nonsense you chatting if a woman takes a man to court for child support most times paternity is not an issue if it is that a test is requested am sure one would be ordered.
Before anything is done in court the magistrate ask the Man if he is the father if he denies they are sent to do a DNA test. So idk what your talking about.
@ lil johnny know what you are saying before you talk . Thats a waste of resources to do DNA testing mandatory & if a man wants to do it he can say its like 600 to get it done they can get it done bug it comes with a fee
My children father owes over 70,000 & everytime I do a warrant nothing is done , everything is on me ….the court is not helping me. Meanwhile i bleed dry their father is all ober buying Jordan’s for 600 and cant feed his children smh