Section 29A of the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1972 (complaint by former spouse in convention country for recovery in Northern Ireland of maintenance from other spouse) shall have effect with the following amendments.
For subsection (1) there shall be substituted the following subsection—
(1)Where on an application under section 27(1) of this Act for the recovery of maintenance from a person who is residing in Northern Ireland— (a) that person is a former spouse of the applicant in a convention country who is seeking to recover maintenance, and (b) the marriage between the applicant and the former spouse has been dissolved or annulled in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom by a divorce or annulment which is recognised as valid by the law of Northern Ireland, and (c) an order for the payment of maintenance for the benefit of the applicant or a child of the family has, by reason of the divorce or annulment, been made by a court in a convention country, and (d) in a case where the order for the payment of maintenance was made by a court of a different country from that in which the divorce or annulment was obtained, either the applicant or his or her former spouse was resident in the convention country whose court made the maintenance order at the time the application for that order was made, the application shall, notwithstanding that the marriage has been dissolved or annulled, be treated as a complaint for an order under Article 4 of the Domestic Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1980, and the provisions of this section shall have effect.
For subsection (4) there shall be substituted the following subsection—
(4)A divorce or annulment obtained in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom shall be presumed for the purposes of this section to be one the validity of which is recognised by the law of Northern Ireland unless the contrary is proved by the defendant.
Subsection (5) shall be omitted.