How does redundancy affect maintenance payments?

historyman73

My fiancee has two children by her ex-partner (they weren't married, so there's no court order or similar agreement in place). They have had an informal agreement for around 2.5 years and he paid varying amounts, eventually settling around the £300 per month mark.

He was made redundant in May, and although he paid the £300 amount that month, she got £60 for them in June, and nothing so far this month. They don't have much contact - he's not the sort of guy you can reason with. She has no idea how much redundancy he got, but he was working there for 11/12 years and he would have received "contractual" redundancy (over and above statutory redundancy). He has since bought himself a couple of flatscreens and a nice camera etc, and is even forking out on his (small) wedding and flights to Europe shortly. But it looks like my fiancee's children won't get anything now. I understand he just hasn't got the income he used to have, and do have some sympathy for his predicament. She has sent him a couple of polite texts to ask him what his plans are, but he just refuses to respond.

He has them for two nights every fortnight (on average), so this falls into the at least 52 nights a year category. The CSA website says this means he doesn't have to pay anything as he's probably on Jobseekers. If it worked out that he only had them 1 night less a year (which if we worked it out, he probably does!), then he'd at least be forced to pay £5 per month per child, but as it stands, he is giving them nothing. He is quite happy to give them a fiver each to spend on rubbish from the toyshop when they're with him. In the meantime, it's me and my fiancee who are left supporting them with the "boring" things they actually need, like food, heating and lighting etc (I also have two of my own who I'm paying maintenance for).

Does anyone know of any way we can find out once and for all if he can be made to make some sort of contribution given that he's likely to be sitting on a reasonable sum which includes non-statutory redundancy. It just seems scandalous that he's getting away with paying nothing for his children and leaving it to my fiancee on her own (she only works part time in term time so that she can be around for them when they're not at school).

He has been out of work before, around two years at one point, and I don't think he has any intention of doing "just any" job as he considers himself far too talented for just any job. This could go on for some time. Perhaps he's waiting for the chairmanship of ICI to come up....trouble is, it's his kids who will end up suffering in the meantime.

Sorry for the rant!

Any help appreciated. Thanks. :mad:

lolaj

I'm afraid there is little you or your partner can do to investigate this matter due to the Data Protection Act I believe, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but his redundancy payment has no bearing on maintenance that your partner should or could receive. Added to that is the fact that he has spent any money he had anyhow.

I appreciate your situation fully in that you are supporting not only your children but your partners too, but for all this guys faults, he has lost his job and in this extremely difficult economy, it isn't easy to find work that you are qualified to do OR that provides the same pay, but he will be expected to apply for ANY job after 13wks regardless of whether it suits his circumstances or not.

Tell me it's none of my business but why does your partner only work during term-time other than to spend the rest of the year with her children? There are few of us that can afford such a luxury. If she were to work throughout the year, she can claim for childcare payments through Working Tax Credit which would ultimately provide you with more money for the family pot?

As far as 'providing' for the children is concerned, it might be a good idea if your partner approaches her ex directly to ask if he could possibly contribute to their school uniforms/clothing in general/etc however little the amount.

ceebeeby

Can she make a formal CSA application?

I thought that didn't matter if you weren't married or not?

At least that way she'll know what she's properly entitled too.

kelloggs36

PWC would not be entitled to any of the redundancy pay. Only payment in lieu of notice would be assessable as it is classed as wages or salary.

CMAC_2

kelloggs36 wrote: »

PWC would not be entitled to any of the redundancy pay. Only payment in lieu of notice would be assessable as it is classed as wages or salary.

It the redundancy payment is more than £65K or is part of other assets totaling 65K or more she can apply for a Variation Order. For those on CSA 1 the amount only needs to be £10k or over to go for a assets departure direction.

She can apply for a variation at the same time as making the original application. You might wish to tell him all this prior to making any application a private agreement would always be better.

kelloggs36

Under CS1 it would depend on whether it was tax exempt - if it is then it is ignored.

DUTR

Kellogs36 is right and it is well documented on the csa website, to the OP, your friend's ex may not have had the massive payout you think, firms have been reducing the amount of severance payout significantly over the last few years as the recession and drop in investment funds take charge, don't judge his ability to parent though on what he pays out of pocket, not sure why you are putting him down, a small wedding ? Does it matter as long as the two are committed to each other? The other items, I'm sure he is entitled to treat himself every now and again it is after all money he worked for and not stolen.
Wish your friend well though, I'm sure when he finds himself in employment again, he will contribute as he should.

CMAC_2

kelloggs36 wrote: »

Under CS1 it would depend on whether it was tax exempt - if it is then it is ignored.

Not under Departure Regs/Assets 10K cash is 10k cash no matter which we you look at it. The only exception is cash from personal injury

historyman73

Thanks to all for your replies.

Don't get me wrong - I have every sympathy with the fact that he has lost his job. It's not easy these days. And regardless of what I think of him (for reasons too lengthy to go into here), I don't wish unemployment on anyone.

And when I mentioned small wedding, I wanted to present a balanced picture of his circumstances - he's not forking out thousands of pounds on the wedding which I think he should be using to support his children. He is having a realistically priced do based on his limited means, and I'm not condemning him for that either.

The main problem my partner has with him is his lack of communication about his plans. My original post here was to try to ascertain whether there is any way she can claim what her children are entitled to (however small) given that the lack of communication with him makes it difficult. It's difficult to manage on a tight budget without knowing what money you can expect coming in. And to balance things up again, I am not saying that he should live on beans on toast until he finds another job - I know he has to live.

To answer the question about why my partner only works term time, and I appreciate the suggestion that we may be entitled to more tax credits if she worked full time. Given that their dad chooses not to see them that much (he only lives four miles away), she decided that at least if she were around for them, they'd at least have some stability in their lives. Plus the fact, she has never been one to rely on state benefits unless absolutely necessary. She doesn't condemn people who do -she doesn't judge anyone - but it's a personal choice.

Thanks to you all for your replies.