Absent Child?

PsiDOC

Hi all. A it of advice please. Daughter 16 at the end of this month (june), lived with her mum till last week. I voluntary pay 160 a month direct to my daughter's bank account (CSA says 20 a month) but I am now in a good job. The direct to daughter payment was agreed by her mum and I as she had 2 horses and the money paid for their livery / feed / maintenance etc and a little left fer her - kind of to get her used to managing her money. The horses were sold last month so no more livery etc to pay for.

Anyways.
I have now been informed that she has moved in with her half-sister - don't know the whys and wherefores because as usual I am the last to know! The half sister also leaves a heck lot to be diesired and is into anything she can get her hands, so my daughter will be left to her own devices and I fear will fall off the beaten track.

I want my daughter to come and live with me. She gets on with myself and inparticular my partner as both of the horsey types - me i know you put hay in one end of a horse and clean up what comes out t'other! We also live literally 1/2 a mile from where she is staying with the half-sister so location is not an issue. I can also see her refusing as she'll have had a taste of she can do what she likes.

What I need to know is if she refuses to come and live with me can I stop her money without falling foul of the CSA? I hate to do this but it's the only lever I have to persuade / force my daughter to move here out of harm's way.

Thanks all.

Psi

Donedoingdebt

Unfortunately, according to the CSA, you have not actually been paying any maintenance for your Daughter because you have been paying the £160 per month directly to her & not via the Parent with care (PWC).

The CSA will regard this as a gift to your Daughter & not maintenance.

Be very careful with this because if you currently have an open case with the CSA & they are saying you should be paying £20 per month to the PWC then you may have been unknowingly building up arrears since this assessment.

I definitely wouldn't recommend just stopping payments at the moment, at least not until the CSA inform you in writing that your account is closed. Instead, if it were me, I'd set up a standing order asap to the PWC for the CSA's recommended £20 per month. Clearly mark this SO as "Child maintenance paid to XXXX (Mother's name) for XXXXX (Child's name).

Even though she's nearly 16, under current CSA rules, maintenance may be payable up until the age of 19, depending on what she decides to do upon finishing her GCSE exams.

If however, the CSA are not currently involved in your case & you have worked out you should be paying £20 per month via the online calculator, then you should be ok.

As for your original question, I believe that if your Daughter has officially left the care of the PWC & this can be proved beyond reasonable doubt, then no maintenance should be payable to the PWC.

There may be the possibility that the half Sister may be able to claim maintenance off you via the CSA but I'm not sure about this. Perhaps someone on this board who is up to date with current CSA practises could shed some light on that.

blimey40

Does it class as pocket money if PWC is on benefits?

Donedoingdebt

As far as I'm aware, any payment that is made directly to the child would be classed as a gift, regardless of the PWC's circumstances.
Only payments made directly to the PWC & clearly marked "child maintenance" will satisfy the CSA that these payments are child maintenance.

Mips

Well at least it would only be classed as £20 a month arrears... and not £160 :eek:

What a great idea to the Dad in the op though.. I hope your Daughter comes to live with you

pd001

Dippychick wrote: »

Well at least it would only be classed as £20 a month arrears... and not £160 :eek:

What a great idea to the Dad in the op though.. I hope your Daughter comes to live with you

Agreed.
I wouldn't mind betting that the csa wont see it that way though!

PsiDOC

pd001 wrote: »

Agreed.
I wouldn't mind betting that the csa wont see it that way though!

Myself niether. Look I don't mind paying for her. Actually I'd be ashamed not to. I just want her here with me as I am very worried about her and what will happen next.
Well she's not answering my calls and niether is her mother, so it seems I am in for some extreme worries in the coming future.
I think the best thing I can do is cancel the Standing Order daughter's bank account and post a cheque made payable to her mother through the door in an envelope (after making a photocopy for reference). After all it will still be her mother whom is PWC and I don't want ANYTHING coming back to bite me on the backside from the CSA.

Thank you all for you help. It is really been appreciated.

Psi