Child Maintenance (CSA) questions (merged)

dottyanne

Hi just a quick question, me and OH have both been married before, hubbys ex lives with their 3 kids, ages - 1 at 17 in August (at college), 1 due to leave school this time - 16 in June, 1 at 13 at the end of this month. Not too sure how the CSA will assess him now (they are in the process of doing so again as his ex wasnt content with the £300 quid he was giving her before!!). I have a few questions i wonder if anyone can help me with - at what age does CSA stop being paid - i know his eldest child who is 17 in August is at college for another 12 months and will leave when she is 18 - shes doing A levels then going to Uni - when does he have to stop paying through CSA for her? Also, his 2nd child who is 16 in June isnt planning to go to college but do an Apprenticeship - so will his CSA stop in September after his 16th Birthday??

I also have 3 kids with my ex and we have never gone through CSA, after seeing the affect on my husband even i'm not that mean to do this to someone else however in hindsight his payments of £25 per week are a little low and he is not even regular with those!!

Not too clear on all this - any advice please?

Scarlett1

If you have asked for a review you might find that actually your maintenance goes down rather than up, especially if you were originally assessed under the old CSA and now wanting a review under the new CSA. Your ex will be providing for his partners 2 children which will be taken into account, whether his OH gets maintenance from her ex or not

Tough one hun, you have to decide yourself if it is actually worth it not (((hugs))) xxx

Beverley

Scarlett1 wrote:

If you have asked for a review you might find that actually your maintenance goes down rather than up, especially if you were originally assessed under the old CSA and now wanting a review under the new CSA. Your ex will be providing for his partners 2 children which will be taken into account, whether his OH gets maintenance from her ex or not

That's my point - it isn't right - it's immoral and should be challenged. Has anyone ever done this successfully?

Scarlett1 wrote:

Tough one hun, you have to decide yourself if it is actually worth it not (((hugs))) xxx

Thanks - the CSA have decided to keep it at the level it currently is and to remind him to pay the correct amount (he rarely does this) and to pay it on time (every Xmas, Easter, child's birthday he reduces the amount because "I've got a lot of outgoings this week it's an expensive time for me". He always rectifies it over the next few weeks but I rely on that money and those times also happen to be expensive for me!)

Scarlett1

Beverley wrote:

every Xmas, Easter, child's birthday he reduces the amount because "I've got a lot of outgoings this week it's an expensive time for me". He always rectifies it over the next few weeks but I rely on that money and those times also happen to be expensive for me!)

:eek: thats not right, he shouldnt do that, maintenace for his children should come first

I know what its like when you rely on money to come in on an exact day and with the correct amount and when it dont it puts you out of sync, shame we all couldnt default on our bills when other occasions come along. :rolleyes:

I think Beverley that under the new CSA you ex dont have to declare what income his OH has coming in when working out an assessment, sorry it might just be a situation that you just grit your teeth too and swear under your breath

((hug)) xx

chugalug

As a general rule, maintenance is payable until you are no longer entitled to CB for the child. AFAIK, an with an apprenticeship, the CB will not be payable but the wages are very low (more an allowance). Perhaps it would be nice to pay the child something direct to help out!!

As for your ex, my personal opinion is that you should avoid the CSA at all costs (not to the detriment of your children though). Perhaps you could ask for an increase. The CSA would get involved if you ask them but it can be a long process. It depends how easy it is for them to get money from him ie is he self employed (very difficult), abroad (impossible). Having said that if he's in regular employment, he'll be assessed at 15% of his net income for one child, 20% for two. If he doesnt comply with the assessment, they can instigate a deduction of earnings order. This isnt a quick process though, sometimes it takes months just to get an assessment. HTH

Prudent

It is an unfair anomaly in the system that you should loose money for your children in order to support your ex’s partner’s children. There is in effect a double credit being made to this child from his Non-resident parent and from the amount your ex pays you. I was in the same position when my ex first left. He did everything he could to avoid paying money. When I eventually pursued payment through the CSA they took into account his new partner had 4 children. This was in spite of the fact that her ex (who loved his children and wanted the best for them) gave a whopping £2,000 a month in maintenance for them because he was determined they should not loose out. In my case that relationship broke down and my ex was assessed at full 15%. He doesn’t pay very often but that’s another story.

I don’t know how successful a legal challenge would be , but it is certainly grossly unfair. Perhaps talking to an organisation like One parent family might put you in touch with others in the same position.

Please excuse diffent fonts. I don't know why this happened.

dottyanne

Thanks for that advice - thats what i figured! I dont want to get my ex's back up as he wont pay any money at all if he finds out CSA involved.

As for OH's son - if he does decide to do an apprenticeship of course we will give him a little extra (as we do now), he works in my shop for about 4 hours on a saturday - well not much to do for him really buts its just to give him that boost and i give him £15 for it. Were all quite close really, im close to my step-kids to and want whats best for them as well as my own 3.

The problem is with hubbys ex - she is never content and always wants more. Its hard for us and i just want to make sure we know where we stand legally with the CSA, morally is another thing and we have moral obligations which wont stop when the CSA does - its just im unsure as to how long we have to pay for the kids through THEM?? So if eldest leaves college next summer will her CSA stop in the September (she will be 18 and 1 month old then) as i dont think CSA is paid after A level standard - she will be going to uni then i think.

Also for next lad, he's 16 in June and isn't doing college so his mum should get child benefit until this Septmber - will his CSA stop then??

Just confused with it all??

calleyw

dottyanne wrote:

So if eldest leaves college next summer will her CSA stop in the September (she will be 18 and 1 month old then) as i dont think CSA is paid after A level standard - she will be going to uni then i think.

Correct CSA payments stop once CB does. CB It is only paid for further and NOT higher education which Uni is.

Also for next lad, he's 16 in June and isn't doing college so his mum should get child benefit until this Septmber - will his CSA stop then??

Just confused with it all??

Correct. Child benefit stops the september after their 16 birthday. Like me I was one of the youngest in the year. So when I left school after my exams I was not even 16. But two months after I turned 16 the CB stopped.

CSA are bit rubbish at stopping payments. As my husband daughter had turned 19 and the CB had stopped but they had not stopped payments. Seemed the computer had not trigged a re-assesment.


Yours

Calley

dottyanne

Thanks for that - im really all for a parent supporting their kids but hate the way the CSA operates, basically at the min he will be paying for all 3 then in Sept should stop paying for 2nd child and then NEXT september stop paying for the eldest.......unfortunatley younger one is only 13 this month so we will have to deal with the damn CSA for a few yers yet !!!

dottyanne

Can I clarify this anyone -as OH ex is disagreeing with the facts.

Eldest is 17 in August - goes to college to do A levels - another year to do so she can get CSA for her until september NEXT year when Child benefit shoudl stop as she will have finished A Levels and be going to uni (although she will still be 18 - not 19 ) does this make anu difference or will he still have to pay through CSA UNTIL she is 19???

Next one 16 in June - leaving school to do apprenticeship - so if this happens his child benefit will stop in September THIS year - so will the CSA stop then too?