Child Maintenance (CSA) questions (merged)

hobo28

snolly wrote:

I'm not a newbie but I've lost my other details (long time), so apologies for that. Any advice greatfully received. I'll try and be brief

I have a court order to pay maintenance for my 3 kids, but was made redundant last year. At the same time, my child access changed to 50/50 shared care. The redundancy was quite substantial but it all went to pay off the mortgage. I'm now self-employed but earning very little. To cut a long story short, the magistrates court said I still have to pay £180 a month maintenance even though the kids live with me half the time. Solicitor said I have to now go to the County Court where the original order was made for a variation downward. My opinion is that maybe they will just look at it the same way - got a lot of money last year so pay up even though next to no income now. They just dont seem to take into account the 50/50 care of the kids at all.

Ex-wifes income with benefits is £1500/net. No mortgage. Owns her own place.

Am I wasting my money going to the County Court or should I persevere? It just does not seem right that I'm paying anything at all when we share the kids access. Why isn't she paying me?!

Also - if I don't pay the £180 a month - are the bailiffs going to come calling or would that not be in the best interests of the kids, were they on their time with me?

Thanks in anticipation.
Dave

Hi Dave

I have no idea about why you are paying thru the court vs the CSA but it might be worth finding out if it would be cheaper to go thru CSA.

As I understand it though even though you have 50/50 care, one parent is still the Parent with Care. THis is usually defined as the person who has the child benefit. Usually this is the mum.

Its not fair but there you go.

Bossyboots

I don't query the court order, but the phrase "the magistrates court said I still have to pay £180 a month maintenance ". Can you explain how this came before the magistrates as your solicitor is correct that you need to apply for a variation order from the court that made it.

dottyanne

basically it seems that no matter what you are screwed - im a mum to 3 boys however my OH doesnt pay me anything........my Oh has 3 kids by his ex-wife anh the kids who are nearly 17, 16 and 13 spend a hellovalota time at ours - however she still persues us for more and more money all the time. I dont meand to sound nasty but sometimes you are wishing the kids lives away until they are older and you dont have to go through CSA - i would stay clear of them if possible - they dont listen to a word you say!! theyve lost 3 lots of info we sent recorded delivery!! wonder what theyd say if the same happened in reverse??

my thoughts are with you - its a tough call but id stick with the court order myself

dotty

dottyanne

walnut whipp im so sorry for you! the CSA are a joke - i dont get anything for my 3 but wont go through them as i see the anguish my Oh has to go through by having to deal with them for his 3 kids by ex-wife. His kids are nearly 17, nearly 16 and nearly 13 now (all bithdays due soon!!) and apart from the younger one we wont have to pay through CSA for the older 2 much longer - however we still have a moral obligation to them and this goes without question - i hate dealing with the CSA myself and sometimes you are wishing your kids/step-kids lives away to be older so you dont have to deal with these muppets at all!

snolly

Never went through the CSA it was all done in the court order about 4 years ago. Now there has been two material changes, 1) kids stay with me half the time 2) redundancy and now low income

The reason it was at the magistrates court was that she took it there to recover arrears.

CSA wont touch anything that has a court order after a certain date.

Am I being totally out of order here, expecting not to have to pay maintenance (I quite happily pay for half of everything) or at least just pay a nominal fee to cover uniforms etc? I don't really get it. I feel like I'm paying twice.

If I have to pay maintenance then presumably, I shouldnt be paying for other stuff in addition.

The irony is, even though I have the kids half time, the benefits cant be split, so its lose-lose. But my income is restricted to part-time hours as the kids are with me a week at a time; hence the self employment - its the only thing that is flexible enough!

Solicitor says I shouldn't be paying anything. Course, hers says I should!

The way I see it is if I have to keep paying from income which I don't realistically have at the moment, I'll end up having to reduce contact with the kids and return to work full-time - which is something they dont want.

You can see why some dads just run away!

Bossyboots

Have you produced proof of your income to her solicitor?

My feeling is, based on all that you have put, that you would succeed in an application for a reduction in maintenance but as you have already realised, this is not guaranteed and can often depend on which judge you get on the day.

snolly

Looking at it another way, if I had 4 children, and 2 lived with me and 2 her, things would be even. But because its half and half time, it appears they are not. No sense.

Bossy - the magistrates seemed to want to know my projected income - impossible to say so they appeared to guess. I cant believe the redundancy payment didnt influence them. They also took into account my new partners income (also pretty low) but made no attempt to ascertain her new partners even though they co-habit.

All seems so wrong. I KNOW the children do not want for anything, and I KNOW the money I pay in child support does not go on the children. All I want to do is make sure it does, by it going directly from me to them. Which it does, all the time they are with me.

I don't know - I really think the answer is not to pay the order but continue to pay for their needs directly, as they need them.

calleyw

Snolly,

My heart goes out to you. I am sure there are many dads who would love to the access that you have. But don't because of the PWC who will not let have that much access. And the need to have to pay the bills so have no choice but to work full time.

It saddens me that in this country when it comes to families and children the fathers are treated as second class citizens. They are given limited access to their children. Or expected to pay large amounts of maintenance. Which means they then can't afford to rent or buy a house big enough to have their children come and stay. And thus are told they are !!!!less fathers who should pay through the nose and stuff the access.

Men would still be in the wrong even if they paid for every single item in a childs life. It still would not be enough.

I am sorry to say that once the money has left you and paid to the PWC you have no control over it. And the PWC can do what they like with it and you have no say. Hard I know but just something that happens.

I don't know the answer to your question. But wish you all the best that I can in this situation. And hope that something gets sorted out asap.


Yours

Calley

Walnut_whipp

Right some good news about the CSA...and some bad news. At long last they have accepted they have messed up.... In the post on saturday moring I recieved a letter stating they would be paying me £50... Well now im going in for the kill... apparently the government has set this amount as a reasonable payment... I think not... they have screwed me over for at least £1000 so I think 10% would be better.... im off to see a solicitor to ask if they will help. As the CSA have admitted a mistake (after telling me they had not and i would not get any compensation) I think I will see how it goes! wish me luck!!!

ritac1

This is a whole new area for me.

Does anyone know whether CSA would take account of the Capital that my ex-partner has when deciding how much maintenance he should pay? He has very little income but substantial capital.

Also, does anyone know what stance the CSA now takes on pursuing a violent ex-partner hence there being some risk to the mother and children if a claim is pursued?

Thanks for any help anyone is able to give.