VPRS 11993 Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court Overseas Maintenance Register

This series registers maintenance orders made in courts overseas and registered for enforcement in Victoria. Some Supreme Court maintenance orders may also be found in these registers.There are three main types of maintenance matters: applications for the court to set a level of maintenance, applications for the court to vary the level of maintenance, and enforcement applications that is, where maintenance orders had been breached, maintenance recipients could seek a court order for payments to be made. Failure to comply sometimes resulted in the imprisonment of the defendant.The orders contained in these Overseas Maintenance Registers relate to orders made in overseas courts and which were originally registered in those Courts for enforcement. When the defendants moved to Victoria, copies of the orders were registered in the Overseas Maintenance Registers at the Malvern Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court. Once registered, the orders were then enforceable through the court in Victoria.The Maintenance Act 1928 and earlier Marriage Acts established provisions for maintenance support to be provided by husbands who had left their wives or children without means of support. Courts of Petty Sessions were empowered to hear complaints regarding desertion and to set levels and enforce the payment of maintenance. The 1965 Maintenance Act is still in force in Victoria (as at 1992). However the 1975 Commonwealth Family Law Act also has provision for the granting of maintenance and most orders are now made under this Act.Maintenance orders made in the Supreme Court were registered with the Courts of Petty Sessions and subsequently, the Magistrates' Courts for enforcement. The orders arrived at the Court in a sealed envelope to be registered. The register so formed was the official register of these orders; they were not recorded elsewhere.