Child maintanence and income support

tweetyshells

Help please as never been in this situation before.

Split with ex this week and will be claiming income support as of a week tommorow (thats when my maternity allowance finishes) however i dont really understand how the maintainance works with it.
Is it ok to come to an agreement with my EX over how much he pays? If so i am assuming it has to be the same or more on what the CSA would make him pay? I'm guessing theres different rules as i will be claiming income support.
What would happen if our agreement was less than CSA would take, is that allowed or would income support make me go through CSA so they didnt have to pay me much?

Any help appreciated

shell_542

You no longer can be forced to go through the CSA if you are on income support. This changed last year.

The amounts the CSA calculate are not set in stone. If you want to come to a private arrangement between you and your ex for any amount you can agree on, that is fine. The calculator on the CSA website can come in handy for an estimate if you are unsure how much it should be though.

If you decide to come to a private agreement, which is recommended if your ex will be reliable and keep to the amounts, then he can give you the money himself (it should go into your bank account by direct debit or standing order, although that is for his benefit not yours) and you will then have to notify the income support people how much you are receiving off of him. You will keep the first £20 a week of maintenance, so as you are getting it all directly from him, your income support will be reduced by the rest ... so if he gives you £30 a week (for example) your income support will be reduced by the difference: £10 a week.

Hope that makes sense x

tweetyshells

Well csa website says £67 pw but if i was to agree say £50pw would they make me get more as then they have to pay me less?

SoontobePWCduetoCSA

No they can't make you take more, they will not know the amounts or have anything to do with it.
But as the other poster said you only get £20 of it, the rest is deducted from your Income Support so you don't see any benefit of it.
Also work your figures out carefully as that extra £30 pw could mean you loose some of your entitlements depending on what other income you have coming in.

As you won't see any benefit to it have you considered asking your ex to pay the extra money directly to the child into a college fund or a fund so they can go on school holidays, a trust account for uni/getting married/first car etc.

tweetyshells

Doesnt that count as income still though?

shell_542

tweetyshells wrote: »

Doesnt that count as income still though?

Not if you open a child's account for your child and he pays it directly into that.

LizzieS_2

shell_542 wrote: »

Not if you open a child's account for your child and he pays it directly into that.

That could be viewed as an attempt to fraudulently claim income support. We do not know how people will utilise such accounts and really should not be giving information that could land some-one in trouble.

Blackpool_Saver

shell_542 wrote: »

Not if you open a child's account for your child and he pays it directly into that.

Please take no notice of this comment unless you want to be prosecuted for fraud.:eek::rolleyes:

SuziQ

I was tol if my ex pays money directly towards my mortgage and I never actually have the money,it is not seen as income. Would this be an option for you? I was also told my ex could pay utilities without it affecting my benefit although we haven't done that.My ex is on the mortgage still though which may affect the rules about this.

shell_542

PMSL!!! I was NOT telling the mother to commit benefit fraud. :rolleyes:

I had already said to go onto the CSA website and work out how much he should pay her directly for child support, pay it directly to her and then contact the benefits people so they will reduce her income support by the appropriate amount ... THEN if the father wanted to pay more towards his child's future and set up a savings account for his daughter, the parents could do that and he could add extra into it.

If my post wasn't clear enough I was not advising the OP to open up a bank account for her daughter and get her ex to put ALL of the child support into it.

I don't agree with benefit fraud in the slightest. I do not even agree with the new rules regarding child support and income support. I don't think it should be left down to the PWC to contact the benefits agency to notify them of any child support they are receiving as I think it is opening up a whole new way for benefit fraud to be committed.

I hope that is clearer

mitchaa

tweetyshells wrote: »

Help please as never been in this situation before.

Split with ex this week and will be claiming income support as of a week tommorow (thats when my maternity allowance finishes)

Perfect timing I see.

''Honey, what are we going to do when my maternity allowance finishes?'' That along with questions about how much he'd be stung for CSA and private arrangements etc.

System at fault for rewarding single parents though, they should do more for couples in my opinion and you are certainly not the only couple to ''split up''

Clear as day to me, im always suspicious though. (Just ignore)