Going through the CSA - what happens now?

GobbledyGook

So we're going down the CSA route - his choice.

I've filled the form in on the CSA website for them to phone me to take the details and I've got all the details they say they need in their checklist.

Father is happy to pay what he should. Well so he says, he thinks they'll take lots of things into consideration before they calculate his income (he's talking mortgage, bills, loans etc).

Any idea of how long it'll take them or is this a piece of string question?

Also will it make any difference when we get divorced? I know it'll make a difference when the new baby is born.

Sorry for the many questions. I was hoping we wouldn't have to go down this road.

Gemma

speedster

he's in for a shock then. housing costs aren't considered on csa2 at all, so whoever has been advising him is not gonna be popular soon!

2 kids will be 20% of his net income. minus 15% net when child arrives.

the rest will be sorted in divorce proceedings. i reckon that once he realises exactly what the csa are gonna hammer him for, this will work in your favour as a bargaining chip when divorce proceedings are under way.

the blokes a muppet. he had every chance to sort this out between you and now he's gonna regret his stance.

Sparkles79

Unfortunately it can be delayed for a number of reasons, speed of being allocated a caseworked to do the assessment, whether your ex is co-operative with them and whether they have to contact the employer direct. Once you get the assessment done then you have to wait and see if he will pay the money or if he will need to have it removed from his wages which take a little while longer.

The divorce proceeding should have no effect on the CSA or the amounts. In fact the only way it may be referred to is as part of a "clean break" order and if it does it usually indicates that child maintenance is required to be paid at a rate determined by the csa. My ex husband decided not to sign the order on that basis, he wanted no mention of child support on the document.

Either way, I wish you all the best with your future new arrival!

GobbledyGook

speedster wrote: »

2 kids will be 20% of his net income. minus 15% net when child arrives.
.

I'm puzzled by that, surely it won't go down when the baby arrives?


As for the rest of it, he is a muppet. He sent me a text telling me he was clearing all the bank accounts out and putting it offshore, so my lawyer has written to him asking for clarification. He's become so unreasonable that even his own parents aren't currently speaking to him.

The divorce is puggling my head big style. I've got to make decisions about pensions, investments and the family house. I don't even know where to start. My legal eagle is all for taking him to the cleaners, but I'm trying to keep it civil. The one thing he can't say so far is that I've been at all unreasonable - he can never use that against me to my girls. At the same time if he thinks our children are going to be brought up on my PT wage in a pokey flat while he lives the life of riley then he's onto plums. Although he "helpfully" pointed out that I could up my hours once the baby is born and that I don't legally need the whole year of ML if I can't afford it - charmer that he is! Can't believe I contemplated taking him back.

Thankfully PIL have been absolutely fantastic and have kept in really close contact with both me and the girls, MIL is still watching my youngest 1 day a week when I work and they are taking them overnight every other Friday which is fabulous. FIL has fitted me a house alarm as mine was on the blink and fixed my broken car. I'm very, very lucky in that respect.

GobbledyGook

Sparkles79 wrote: »

Unfortunately it can be delayed for a number of reasons, speed of being allocated a caseworked to do the assessment, whether your ex is co-operative with them and whether they have to contact the employer direct. Once you get the assessment done then you have to wait and see if he will pay the money or if he will need to have it removed from his wages which take a little while longer.

The divorce proceeding should have no effect on the CSA or the amounts. In fact the only way it may be referred to is as part of a "clean break" order and if it does it usually indicates that child maintenance is required to be paid at a rate determined by the csa. My ex husband decided not to sign the order on that basis, he wanted no mention of child support on the document.

Either way, I wish you all the best with your future new arrival!

That's my concern. I think he's really deluding himself and thinks I've plucked figures from nowhere (even though I showed him on the CSA site).

The one thing I do know is that his employers frown upon people who end up being forced to pay through their wages so he'll be really reluctant to let it go that far.

Hopefully he'll co-operate with them. He knows though that now he's chosen CSA there's no going back, we sent a letter to him basically saying "Mrs XXX will accept x amount per month in relation to child maintenance for XXX and YYY. Should you choose to go via the CSA route then we will consider their decision on amounts final and will not negotiate, even is this is higher than the XX we will currently accept" - not in those exact words obv, the legal eagle is cracking at wording things.

maggied_2

Hi GG - sorry that it's come to this.

I think Speedster thinks he's having a child with someone else (forgive me if I'm wrong S!) - your husband will need to pay 25% of his net income for three chikdren, less any allowance he gets if he has them overnight. It's only on the 'old rules' (cases opened before March 2003) that living expenses etc are taken into account.

The difference a divorce would make would only be in spousal maintenance. You could go for a clean break or for monthly payments - and I think there are options for example to keep the marital home in exchange for not making a claim on his pension, but this is definitely one for the legal bods.

Good luck and congrats on the impending arrival

GobbledyGook

Ah of course, sorry I didn't make it very clear that it was me having the baby.

Spousal maintenance seems to be a minefield. His lawyer seems to be saying that because I work he doesn't need to give me much/anything. Mine is saying because I gave up University to move with him and marry him he needs to give me lots. The pension we paid into for me is another big debate point, he's stopped paying into it, but I can't afford to put in it what we were so they lawyers will fight over that. Don't want the house, I want somewhere bigger and nicer than where I am, but not that house. He seems to think if he has to sell that house or give me money for it then I have to sell this flat and give him half of the proceeds. The biggest winner I think will be the legals, don't get me wrong mine is fabulous and she's not charging me what she could, but still will be money we should have been using on the children.

speedster

sorry. i didn't realise that it was you having the baby. my bad.

wow, your case just gets more and more complex.

as for divorce lawyers, yes they are scum. i know, i have one in my family and he's a to$$er. greedy, scheming lowlife.

bloody good at it though. he's "rather" well off (unsurprisingly) mainly thanks to people like yourself paying him vast amounts of money to drag the case out and actively deteriorate relations between warring partners to that effect.

trust me, i've heard every trick in their dirty little book.

GobbledyGook

I'm quite lucky with the legal eagle. She's charging a set fee (pretty reasonable too) and that fee doesn't change no matter how long or complicated the case gets. It does mean that she's very busy and it can be a day or so before she gets back to you over something (unless it's urgent), but she's great. She's also come out to me twice for meetings so that I don't have to try and find childcare, without charging extra for it. She only deals with divorces where children are involved and her main aim is to get the best for the kids, she's not as fussed about the adults that have ballsed it up (if you get what I mean).

Just want to point out to anyone wondering though, I'm most definitely not paying anyone to drag things out. I know some people do, but I want my life and my children's life sorted - fairly - as soon as possible. I've no interest in taking him to the cleaners, he is the one who has caused all of this and I want him to do right by both my children and me. I gave up university because he wanted me to move with him. I did so and we got married. I've always worked part time and funded my own hobbies, I've kept a nice home, ran our finances, been the main caregiver to our children and supported him in everything. He had a good life, I wasn't the kind of wife who hated him going out, he went out at least once a week, went on many stag do's all with my encouragement and blessing. I didn't grudge one single second of it - he and the children were my life. Now my children are my life and he needs to provide the same standard of life for them and I don't think he should be allowed to cast me aside with nothing either.

I'm doing my best to keep things friendly. It's him that's spitting the dummy because he ballsed up and (accidentally) let me know it was an affair rather than a one off. He was being reasonable while he thought there was a real chance of us getting together again one day, now he knows that's not likely at all he's chucking the toys out of the pram.

13Kent

You are sounding strong and determined in these posts. I wish you well.