CSA Child Support - Advice please?

isica1903

Hi, can someone please give me some advice re. Child support.
My OH has a son of 11, he lived with us for the last year but has gone back to his mum now. She called yesterday wanting to know how they will arrange the money for his son, she wants it paid into an account every month or go through csa.
OH said to me he wouldn't need to pay any maintenance as he has too many debts??
He was pulled up before about it by CSA and they decided he wasn't able to pay because he owed too much, he never paid maintenance before but always buys all his clothes, shoes, school uniform and whatever else she demands.
Now those debts have been paid though and he has new ones since that have nothing to do with her (ie. our mortgage, credit cards etc). Where do we stand? He reckons she has been receiving money off the CSA all along and tbh. I can't imagine her going without since she's a greedy cow but thats another story.
So would the amount he pays to CSA make any difference to the amout she receives, as he is not willing to pay any money directly to her as it would never get spent on son anyway.
Sorry if this is a bit confusing, but I don't know nothing about this really and is the first time I had to think about it.
We have 2 children of our own by the way, also have a mortgage and he is the only earner in the family as I don't work while kids are still small. Thanks for your help

TotallyBroke

I didn't think the CSA took into account what debts you have or had. I thought they took a percentage of your wage and gave it to the resident parent. The fact you have two children will mean the percentage is less. If the Ex is on benefits then she will only get £10 paid to her no matter how much your OH pays the CSA.
Go onto the CSA website and put in some details that will show you an approx amount that you will need to pay.

I apologise now if I have that information totally wrong but that is how I understood it. Although I have had no dealings with either.

isica1903

That's what I thought that she gets a set amount. Obviously she wouldn't be doing herself any favours if she got him to pay as he wouldn't be paying for anything else that she wants anymore.
As far as I know she's on benefits has another daughter (not OH's) but recently married (not the father of either children) and I think he works. Don't know if that makes any difference.

TotallyBroke

Ok if she is married and he is working. She would not be entitled to benefits apart from the normal child benefit, Tax credits and maybe working Tax credit. So she would be entitled to every penny (I think) that your OH gives to the CSA. If he is not paying to the CSA and not giving her any money then she is getting nothing.
She cannot have received money from the CSA for the 11yo unless your OH has been paying them. They don't give money away without getting it first.
I'm not sure how much she would get if she had two claims for two seperate children to two seperate Dad's.
It's very hard to decide whether the money is spent on child or not. Just because you don't see something doesn't mean it is not used on the child. When the child is invited to a birthday party, where does the money come from to buy the birthday child a gift? Does she ask your OH for that money or does the child not go to the party....

mishmash

Hi there is a bit on here in the benefits section I think that will advise you.

I think the new rules for CSA payments are a simple calculation, they look at your OH's income, take of an ammount for you him and any children he has living with you. They then look at how often he has staying contact (if this is regular there is a further deduction from the income) then make an award based on a percentage of what is left. You can get all this info to work out what it would be on the CSA website. They do not take into account debts or mortgage payments. The mother would not be getting any money from the CSA if your OH is not paying it.

I do agree with the poster who reminded you of the hidden costs of kids, I had to fight my ex for 10 years for maintenance-he regularly tells my lot how he does not think the money is spent on them. They are all teens now and I recently sat them down to show them what their Dad pays me and how much they cost. Things like dinner monies, mobiles after school activities holidays clothes, spends not to mention the shopping bill and the other household bills like telephone (which they are always on) and the electric for their constant showers and tv's and stuff they have on all the time. Basically the money I get is nowhere near 25% let alone 50% of what they actually cost.

I understand that you say you have children of 'your own' but this child is also your OH's 'own'. He has a responsibility to her- children are not desposable items that we can move on from. This is not about your feelings of distaste for her mother, it is about your OH making regular payments for the upkeep of his child at a reasonable and assesed ammount.

A word of warning, I tried to negotiate with my ex and said we did not have to go through the CSA. He was all bolshy as he thought they would make a very small assesment- He now has to pay me £100 more a month than I asked for!

Get on the CSA site, see what you would have to pay and come to an arrangment, I am sure it is the least you would expect your Oh to do for your children if you split up.

Mish

isica1903

Thanks for all your replies. I have done a rough check on the csa site and it comes up with £72 per week which is an awful lot of money that we just can't afford to pay. The trouble is, I would be fine with him paying whatever needs to be paid, but I also know what he has been telling me about his ex and from what I can hear is that I really don't think the money she would receive is spent on him. I don't mean she should buy him presents or whatever with it, I do know what children cost and after all he was here for the last year (for which she did not pay a penny either). But she is always complaining that she has no money and can't afford this and that but always seems to have enough money for fags and to go out on the p*** every weekend. That attitude alone makes me think that money isn't spent very wisely in her house. I'm not trying to get out of paying for his son and I know my OH wouldn't want any of his kids to go without, I'm just trying to work out the best way to go about things.

pinkshoes

When he lived with you last year, how much did she pay your OH in child maintenance?

TotallyBroke

Wow, are you sure you put the figures in correctly. Only that would mean your partner was earning an absolute fortune.
On a yearly wage of £17,000 paying for 1 child with no overnight access and 2 children at home maintenance is £31 per week.
I'm guessing on your amount of £72per week your partner must earn £30,000+ so can easily afford £72per week or you have your figures wrong.

bones65

hello
if the mother is getting csa payments for one child that amounts to 15% of the fathers salary, if he refuses to pay then they have the right to do a doe direct from earnings order with his wages department.
if he buys shoes and clothes etc that is upto him but if he is paying the correct amount it should be used for the child. Therefore he is contributing his bit towards the upbringing of his son. Remember the amount he is giving is only to assist and not to cover the entire cost of a childs needs.

isica1903

She paid nothing in the time he was here.
Yes he is on good pay, but after paying mortgage, bills, council tax, debts and food we're in the red so even though he earns well we still can't afford it. He's not refusing to pay anything for him, but I think he's a bit unaware of the situation. He had a valuation done by csa before but weighing up his pay against his debts at the time he didn't have to pay. But he thinks because he still has debts now (more than then) he doens't have to pay. On csa site it says debts taken out when still a couple or benefiting the family (or something to that effect) are taken into account but our debts now are unrelated to her so I suppose they mean nothing to csa.

3onitsway

The last 'valuation' he had done sounds like it was on old rules.

If she decides to go through the CSA, he'll only need to pay the assessment, and not all the extras like "clothes, shoes, school uniform and whatever else she demands."

Assessment would be his usual take home pay plus any tax credits you receive -20% for your two children, then 15% of whats left will be what he has to pay. (less any shared care reduction if his son stays over with you regularly).

New rules CSA only looks at the income coming into your household, it does not take into account mortgage, bills, council tax etc.

She won't have been receiving CSA if he hasn't been paying it - they don't pay anything out unless they've received it from the NRP.

Her having another child (not oh's) will make no difference to you/him. She can claim of this childs father seperately.

If she's now married and her OH is working, she will receive all of the maintenance your OH pays. She'd only receive £10 per week (soon to be £20), if she was on income support.