CSA questions please help advice.

fountainpen

ok i will put as much as i can on a public forum.
We pay PWC , she is not the honest of people.We pay every month direct to her through the bank.
Recently she asked could we pay into the childs bank account as she was in debt.I checked up and CSA have said if we pay maintenance to childs account it is not classed as child support but a gift to the child , so we will end up in arears.
We have told her will will pay into her bank account direct to her ( the mother) only.
She now has said she has no bank account anymore , can we now pay into childs account .Obviously we are not going to do this as she has lied about recieving payments in past and we will not pay into a childs bank account.
We have written a reciept out for a cash payment to pay her cash.(This has been accepted by CSA in the past.)
I am unhappy to do this every month for a number of reasons , she lives a long distance away etc being one , the second she refuses access out of spite, yet allows us to the house to pay maintenance ?.
I do not believe she does not have a bank account , her and her husband have a mortgage and bills to pay etc.The CSA have took a step back , we do not pay through CSA , they know we pay her and how much.
However i feel she is trying to "hide" these CSA payments .
If the CSA pay a PWC do they always pay into a bank account? reason being i may just pay them to take the hassle out of it .
Ironically due to her deciet she is making it as akward as possible to pay her ??
Any ideas

karenx

It should all go through a bank account. Tell her to open a post office account only for these payments to go through. Or just go back to csa and say she is no longer accepting payments through her bank.

DUTR

Pay it to the CSA and they can pass it on to her.

pd001

fountainpen wrote: »

ok i will put as much as i can on a public forum.
We pay PWC , she is not the honest of people.We pay every month direct to her through the bank.
Recently she asked could we pay into the childs bank account as she was in debt.I checked up and CSA have said if we pay maintenance to childs account it is not classed as child support but a gift to the child , so we will end up in arears.
We have told her will will pay into her bank account direct to her ( the mother) only.
She now has said she has no bank account anymore , can we now pay into childs account .Obviously we are not going to do this as she has lied about recieving payments in past and we will not pay into a childs bank account.
We have written a reciept out for a cash payment to pay her cash.(This has been accepted by CSA in the past.)
I am unhappy to do this every month for a number of reasons , she lives a long distance away etc being one , the second she refuses access out of spite, yet allows us to the house to pay maintenance ?.
I do not believe she does not have a bank account , her and her husband have a mortgage and bills to pay etc.The CSA have took a step back , we do not pay through CSA , they know we pay her and how much.
However i feel she is trying to "hide" these CSA payments .
If the CSA pay a PWC do they always pay into a bank account? reason being i may just pay them to take the hassle out of it .
Ironically due to her deciet she is making it as akward as possible to pay her ??
Any ideas

Have a read of the following...it will help you.......

Document all payments properly!
By that I mean you should make sure that there cannot be any misunderstanding what the payments are actually for in the future.

You should do more than just cross a cheque.....you should also
send a letter with each payment that you make, to the effect that the payment is specifically made to support your child (ren).


edit...You should also name the child (ren) that the payment is for.
edit...The letter has to state that the money is for child maintenance and it must also stipulate for what period

Postal orders will suffice provided that you keep the stub, DO NOT LOSE THEM!
Ensure that it has the correct name in the payee section. Ensure that you cross the order or make sure that it is crossed when you buy it. If you dont cross it then it can be cashed and is much more difficult to trace in the future. Dont forget to send a letter with the postal order as I have specified above.....and again...very important indeed...
DO NOT make cash payments!

If you make payments through a bank, then I would advise that each time a payment is taken from your account, then you also send the letter as detailed above, to the PWC.

Keep copies of these letters, DO NOT LOSE THEM!
Make sure that each letter is dated with the same date that is on the cheque.
DO NOT make cash payments!


Thanks to kelloggs36 who posts on here for some of the above information

fountainpen

Hi,
Thanks problem is she is saying she has no bank account.
Crossed postal orders plus cheques are paid into the bank.

I have found this.

3) When the child reaches the age of 16, maintenance payments can be made directly to the child.

Not true - the Child Support Agency (aka CMEC) can class this is a gift as they stipulate that child support payments should be paid to the Parent with Care and not the child (assuming the child lives with Parent with Care). Also when paying the Parent with Care directly, it is preferable that this is not done in cash but by standing order/cheques with the reference "child support" clearly indicated. If paying by cash, then a signed receipt should be obtained from the Parent with Care verifying that the cash is for child support. If proof cannot be provided that payments were for child support, the Child Support Agency can class them as a gift.

pd001

fountainpen wrote: »

Hi,
Thanks problem is she is saying she has no bank account.
Crossed postal orders plus cheques are paid into the bank.

I have found this.

That is her problem to sort out, not yours.

As I have stated above
DO NOT make cash payments!

And another thing..
DO NOT make payments direct to the child / ren in question, either by way of cash, or directly into a childs bank account
The csa look upon payments made direct to children as 'pocket money' and not as child support payments

I agree with the comments of karenx her post above..
'Tell her to open a post office account only for these payments to go through. Or just go back to csa and say she is no longer accepting payments through her bank.'

During the time that you are unable to make payments, (due to the awkwardness of the pwc) then put the money that you would have paid to one side. Save it for when the csa approach you for arrears.

HTH

fountainpen

Just wondering
Do her debtors take our CSA payments into account to pay her debt off?
Do you have to pay debt off if you are Bancrupt , she is now asking for more money ! every month . I dont understand Bancruptcy but to me she is trying to hide the maintenance payments every month ?

pd001

fountainpen wrote: »

Just wondering
Do her debtors take our CSA payments into account to pay her debt off?
I dont know the answer for sure but i would have thought that ALL money going into the household would have to be taken into account if she declares herself bankrupt

Do you have to pay debt off if you are Bancrupt , she is now asking for more money ! every month . I dont understand Bancruptcy but to me she is trying to hide the maintenance payments every month ?
I do see what you are getting at here.
If I read what you are saying correctly, you think that she may well declare herself bankrupt and when they come to assess her bankruptcy and what, if anything, that she can afford to pay back, then you think that she may well not declare the money that you are paying her?
Do not pay what she is asking just for the sake of it. Let her go to the csa!
In the meantime do not pay her any money whatsoever and put the money that you would have paid into a seperate account and save it for when the csa approach you for payments.

kelloggs36

Don't pay her! Go via the CSA and insist with them that you want to pay via them - let them sort it out with her. I'm not sure on the situation regarding bankrupts and bank accounts - she may be able to have a basic bank account.