CSA info for a friend

cazscoob

hi my friend has a child by a previous partner, they separated while she was pregnant and never let him have any contact with baby. she didnt want him to have anything to do with baby or anything from him. he triend on a few occasions to see the child bt with no success.

The CSA has turned up at his door today(when he was out) demanding money and telling his new partner that they were going to arrest him and take his driving licence. he is now obviously in a panic as he has had nothing before this and is not on the birth certificate. he has a child with his new partner and has recently lost his job due to there being now work.

he is looking for advice on what steps he should take as obviously he would love to see the child (she moved and he doesnt know where she is?) but also is confused to why now after 5/6 years she has started with the CSA after stating she doesnt want anything to do with him?
thanks in advance for the help!

marshmallows

I dont know her financial situation or your friends. Did the csa say how much he owes? Seems like maybe his x went on income support and 5/6 years ago the csa would have automatically been involved

Has he ever received any letters from them?

Rebe

Hi,

Firstly, the CSA don't have the right to arrest/take away a driving licence, so that should be ignored.

Secondly see if your friend can contact the CSA and ask them to either prove he is father of child (with copy of birth certificate as you said he's not on it)

The mother of the child can contact the CSA at any point down the line and claim money, it doesn't matter how many years she's left it. But also the CSA is based on attachment of earnings so if he's not earning, they can't take anything from him.
My fiance has a child thats now 7 and his ex-wife had a string of affairs and he left but ever since (this is going back many years) she's refused access, he's tried everything and she then got the CSA onto him so I understand your friends situation.
Hope this helps slightly

Rebe

marshmallows

Rebe if they sent letters for this man at an address they thought to be his and had no reply then they would have used the default amounts and assumed parentage

cazscoob

he was self employed and has no money now apart from JSA,CTC AND CB. he has recently moved into this house after staying with his partners father, he has never recieved any letter or had any contact at all from csa.

so will the arrears go back 5/6 years or will it be from date she has claimed?

also should he contact CSA or a lawyer and get them to contact CSA to find out about DNA and then take it from there??

marksoton

The first thing he needs to do is find out where and when they allege they have sent letters etc trying to get hold of him. If they have sent them to what can be considered a confident address then he will need proof that he was not living there. The outcome of this will set the " effective date " from which child support would be due.

Whilst the CSA do not have powers of arrest etc they can in extreme cases apply for a committal or to have a driving licence taken away.

cazscoob

thank you mark! would like to help him get this sorted out asap as you can imagine he is a bit shell shocked and unsure what to do.

marshmallows

if they sent letter to an old address he needs to prove he wasnt living there. I think also once csa have assumed parentage its the nrp who has to prove they are not a parent. Which will be hard if he doesnt know where the child or his x is

google nacsa or a fairercsaforall they will be able to give more advice

pd001

cazscoob wrote: »

he was self employed and has no money now apart from JSA,CTC AND CB. he has recently moved into this house after staying with his partners father, he has never recieved any letter or had any contact at all from csa.

so will the arrears go back 5/6 years or will it be from date she has claimed?

also should he contact CSA or a lawyer and get them to contact CSA to find out about DNA and then take it from there??

That wouldn't be cheap!

Rorkes_Drift

The CSA can assume parentage and the accused NRP has burden of proof otherwise by a DNA paternity test. If the test is negative then the CSA refunds the DNA costs to the accused.

cazscoob

thanks for all the advise as i am aware he has never recieved any letters from the CSA and his previous addresses were his parents house and his new partners parents so either way i cant see them keeping mail from him!

i will update as soon as i know anything else