Child Maintenance (CSA) questions (merged)

Sarah1971

Thanks everyone for your advice! I will be seeking some legal advice again on Monday just to clarify things. The CSA scares me as they have had such bad press and I really can't afford for them to mess things up for me, if things could get any worse and more messed up that is!

Sarah
x

us,thecat&thedebt

my father in law claims maitenence from csa from his wife who left in march...

they have been good with him..

although only getting £5 per week as she is on income support even though she is living with a very rich partner...

£5 per week doesnt go far does it ( not for a 12 year old)
but its better than nought!

he gets £10 a fortnight straight into his bank..

mind i think they deduct it from her benifit before she gets it...

been getting monry for nearly a year now and no probs ...

i would say if you have a court order prehaps it just needs inforcing.

Money_Bunny_4

I'd steer well clear of the CSA. For the last 5 years I've been trying to get maintenance for my 2 children from my ex. The CSA have also been involved for all of that time and he still pays nothing although he has been constantly employed and gets a pension from a previous employer.

Have rung them time and time again with every detail they could want (his full name, address, company he works for, pension details etc etc etc and still no joy. They are supposed to be ringing me within the next 5 days with a progress report..........yeah right!!! I ended up quitting my job last year as without any maintenance payments, a relatively low wage and no childminder available in my area meant I was £30 a week worse off by working. The whole system sucks in my opinion.

To cap it all off my partner has moved in with me and the CSA are trying to chase him for maintenance for his children (which we would have no problem paying if we were employed and not on benefits!!). They rang last week and had all the details of temporary jobs he's had in the last few months. Sometimes it seems like there's one rule for some and another for other people.

Stick with the court order and I wish you success with everything.

tiptoes

I take evryone's advice and stay well clear of the CSA, My ex who is in a Very well paid job has ran rings around the CSA. I recieve £9.50 a mth, I probably cost them more in admin fees.

Noozan

My friend has 3 children and has been divorced from her first husband for several years, he's the father of her eldest child. They have an informal arrangement whereby he gives her 15% of his take home pay as maintenance for their daughter.

She and her current husband are currently in the process of relocating to another part of the country; they both have jobs lined up but have to move into a rented flat temporarily. There isn't enough room for the children so they will be staying with her current husband's parents until the new house is sorted. (It's new build and not ready yet)

Since their daughter is going to be living with her inlaws for a little while, she thinks it's only fair that she doesn't take the maintenance money off him for this period. What would be a fair amount to ask him to give to the inlaws, given that she and her current husband will also be contributing to the childrens board and lodging?

Bossyboots

Its nice to see parents being reasonable but the costs of raising the daughter do not change because the living arrangements do. She will still need clothes and food etc. I don't see how what they are paying for accommodation is relevant to the amount this man pays for his daughter. If she finds they can manage financially better for the interim period then perhaps should could consider putting what she feels is the balance of maintenance into an account for the daughter.

To be honest, asking the ex to pay the inlaws towards his daughter almost makes it seem that she is not considered a part of the family. I would say she should take the usual maintenance in the usual way and she and her new husband should make the arrangements with the inlaws themselves. Then, as I have said, she should use a portion of it as savings for the daughter.

Noozan

Thanks. The cost of their accommodation is not relevant to what her ex pays; she and hubby will be giving his parents money towards costs of feeding all 3 children.

To be fair, her ex is very good and takes his daughter to buy things like clothes etc. He occassionally buys things for my friend's two other daughters too and will have all 3 overnight to stay if my friend and husband wants a a night out.

I also thought she should continue with current maintenance arrangement and put the money aside but she didn't feel right about taking the money.

Sam_Spends_Too_Much

Does anyone have any ideas on what is an 'acceptable amount' of maintenance for 3 children?? My friends soon to be ex has offered £70 per week for them, breaks down to about £23 each. He has said that he won't give her any more, nor will he pay for school uniforms, school shoes, coats, school trips, play school (child under age for free sessions), out of school clubs etc. Basically, she has to cover everything from this £70 and her family allowance.

She will get a share from the house which 'should' enable her to buy a place for them to live in but where does she stand on the income support/council tax benefit front?? Would the house be classed as a saving as she owns it outright??

It all seems very complicated. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

helen21_2

If it was through the csa he would have to pay 25% of his wage to provide for 3 children, does she know his income? does he live with a new woman with children?

wigginsmum

My DH pays £400/month for his 2 kids, which equates to about 20% of his net salary. The CSA figure given to us a few years ago was much lower than that so we voluntarily upped it.