CSA and nrpp contribution

barmaid2010

My partner has been making regular payments to the CSA for the last two years. I moved in at the end of last year. Unfortunately, he was then sacked from his job (which is going to a tribunal). The pwc has now said that she has not got enough to live on and is considering making an appeal to the CSA or applying for spousal maintenance against me.

I have understood from the research I have done that as he is on CSA2 I can legally tell the CSA to get knotted and that my income cannot be taken into account. Is this right?

I am assuming that spousal maintenance is something quite different though and probably something on which I need legal advice?

OK, neither of us want the children to suffer and between us we will do whatever we can to buy them anything they need, but its tough enough for us now he has lost his job. I refuse to give her a penny of my hard earned cash when she won't go and get a job herself.

shell_542

Was your partner and his ex ever married? Have they divorced? Spousal maintenance is normally agreed during a divorce. It has absolutely nothing to do with the CSA. I'm not sure what she can do with regards to that. Might be an idea for your partner to get some legal advice on it, so he is armed with some information. You can get free initial consultations with some solicitors.

As for the CSA ... she can make an application to them, the case will be on CSA2 and how much is paid is solely on the NRP's income. The NRPP's income has absolutely nothing to do with it. All that can be taken into account is child and working tax credits you might receive in your household if over £100 a week.

So if your partner has no income at all, he would be assessed on a percentage of £0. So nothing. If he is claiming jobseekers etc, he would pay a standard £5 a week.

It must be worrying for her if she was relying on the maintenance and all of a sudden it is reduced to nil, but then if your partner was still with her and he lost his job, she would be in the same situation. There's not much can be done about losing your job. It's not as if he's left it to avoid paying maintenance. Sorry it's a bit of a ramble. Hope some of it helps.

barmaid2010

Thank you Shell. I hoped that with the CSA that would be the case. He feels terrible that he can't pay towards his children but he rightly says she can't have what he hasn't got. He is on Jobseekers and will be paying the £5 per week. Poor fella feels that he has had the stuffing kicked out of him by his employers and now by his ex. While he is out of work he has offered help with transport to and from school and also suggested we have the children more to help her with the costs, but she is not having any of it.

They were only married for a short while, but cohabited for about 15 years. They were divorced on a clean break basis, but there is a worrying cluase in the order which I have looked at this morning which allows for spousal maintenance of £1 per year. From what I have read this morning this looks as if it can be varied upwards.

We can't really afford a solicitor at the moment - what with paying for a solicitor on the employment front and me having to cover all the bills and debts there is going to be naff all left at the end of the month!

shell_542

What a worry. Could you maybe see one just to clarify the clause in the court order?

Mind you, even if they up the spousal maintenance, they can't ask him to pay something he hasn't got. Hopefully that would be factored in also.

You're doing all you can. You've offered to have the children more and help in other ways, not just financial. I would perhaps get this offer recorded, in the way of an email or letter, so you have proof. She is choosing to keep her costs higher than they need be.

Soubrette

As far as I am aware spousal maintenance will have to go through the courts and the courts are much more reluctant to award this than they used to be.

As to not having enough money to bring up the children, I'm afraid this is the opposite side of the coin from when we hear some NRPs say that it only costs so much to bring up a child so why do they have to pay a percentage of income.

In short, she has to cut her cloth to the budget she has. If she were still married to your partner he would still not be contributing anything at this point due to loss of job and so she has to accept while he has no income, he has no percentage of income to offer.

As the NRPP you have no obligation to support your partner's children in any way (unless like shell has pointed out you have tax credits which are deemed as family income) - he is very lucky to have a partner who is prepared to go above and beyond (I know most NRPP and PWCP's partners do see them as an extension of their own family - but they don't have to).

Shell is right also on the putting things in writing, it's horrible to have to act so suspiciously but it's better to have things in writing rather than have someone deny they were ever said in the first place.

If you can't afford a solicitor then phone round the local ones and see if any offer free half hour advice, also check out your local citizen's advice bureau, some people find them very helpful.

Good luck.

Sou

Strapped

barmaid2010 wrote: »

Thank you Shell. I hoped that with the CSA that would be the case. He feels terrible that he can't pay towards his children but he rightly says she can't have what he hasn't got. He is on Jobseekers and will be paying the £5 per week. Poor fella feels that he has had the stuffing kicked out of him by his employers and now by his ex. While he is out of work he has offered help with transport to and from school and also suggested we have the children more to help her with the costs, but she is not having any of it.

They were only married for a short while, but cohabited for about 15 years. They were divorced on a clean break basis, but there is a worrying cluase in the order which I have looked at this morning which allows for spousal maintenance of £1 per year. From what I have read this morning this looks as if it can be varied upwards.

We can't really afford a solicitor at the moment - what with paying for a solicitor on the employment front and me having to cover all the bills and debts there is going to be naff all left at the end of the month!

They can't have been divorced on a "clean break" basis if there is an ongoing spousal maintenance clause.

Is the ex single, or is she co-habiting with someone (because if the latter you have nothing to worry about). If she is single then I would get some legal advice, as yes she can apply for the maintenance to be increased.

ETA: Sorry, just realised that that sounded really pessimistic - yes, I'd get some legal advice, but even if she applies, then the courts will only be looking at your income as "contributing to the household expenditure" and looking to see whether that frees up any of his income. If his income is nil, then the income he has left available to make spousal maintenance can only be, errr, nil, so I'm sure that the courts would not grant an increase.

barmaid2010

Thank you all.

She is not cohabiting (although we suspect she probably is, proving it is a different matter). Although it is jolly tempting to ask the children, neither of us want to put them in the position of "telling" on their mum. Strapped, the way you explained that makes sense. Naturally he has outgoings which exceed his incomings, but I will pay for them until he finds work. His income is only his JSA. I suppose in theory she could claim ALL of his JSA on the basis that I am covering all his outgoings but if I have understood it correctly that is the limit the court would award since to go over that effectively makes an indirect order for me to pay. Even then I think that is probably theoretical since given the amount of time we have the children, his JSA is quite reasonably spent on them and his food - ergo the income against which she can claim is practically nil.

A relief all round, I can tell you. Thank you all for your helpful responses. And isn't this a great site - I'm already looking at where we can make things better for us!

kelloggs36

Just to clarify, the tax credits don't have to be more than £100 per week for it to be taken into account.

shell_542

So an NRP with a household receiving some child tax credits will always have to pay out of the tax credits even if they're only getting job seekers or even nothing at all? Do the Csa staff actually tell them their tax credits are counted or is it up to them to work it out for themselves as I've seen people respond I'm shock when told their tax credits are supposed to have been included.

jacklink

my hubby is assesed as nil payment, he gets no benefit as i work and claim WTC i in the kindness of my heart give her £5 a week which takes from his made up arrears which go down all the time .

shell_542

But if the nrp does get under £100 a week tax credits, all they would have to pay the PWC would be £5 a week anyway. That's the basic payment for income under £100 a week isn't it?