CSA wanting more money than I can pay (really!)

Comedy

Thanks again everyone.

Just to clear a few things up..

When we met I was working overseas and we met in that country.

When he was born I moved back to the UK.

I will definitely be getting a DNA test done before i accept any agreement.

I told the CSA about my amount of travelling and they told me it wouldn't be taken into account. After the DNA test I'll get some real legal representation to handle this for me.

Another question though.. when they first spoke to me they asked if I disputed parental responsibility. I said no. They told me that if that ever changes it will be on me to prove. Is there any way I can push back on this and have them fund the DNA test?


I will speak to my ex too and see if we can go through the CSA for her. If I can have a variation based on travel expenses and then the 20% split between two people I guess it's possible for me to end up with a sensible amount of money.

speedster

where does the child and mother live?

if she is not in the UK she cant claim csa. end of.

speedster

if that's the case, she would have to go through the court process in the country she is in to gain a maintenance order, then go through REMO to enforce it in th UK.

Soubrette

I think you need to speak to the CSA again.

Were you in a casual few flings relationship or did it last for at least the 9 months of her pregnancy? (you don't have to answer any of these questions btw - just for you to consider). If you were in a relationship for the best part of a year then it may be more unlikely that the child is not yours compared to the likelihood if it was a few weeks casual fling.

The more likely the child is of being yours then the less useful a DNA test will be. You may still feel that peace of mind is worthwhile of course.

If you do still want to go ahead then contact the CSA and explain that on reflection you feel that there is only a chance of the child being yours and so you would like to make sure and see what they say.

Would you be prepared to say which country the child was born in and the nationality of the Mother?

Assuming it turns out that you are in fact the parent, the CSA will work out child maintenance payments based on a straight percentage of your salary - they will not take travel into account. However, once your assessment has been worked out you can ask for a variation to be made which will take into account a proportion of your travel costs. As far as I am aware, when it comes to variations the CSA is an equal opportunities organisations and will turn it down. Then you will have to request a Tribunal. This is a long drawn out affair.

Just a word of warning - we are mostly parents with our own experiences of the CSA (mostly poor) so take any legal advice with a pinch of salt, use the forum as an information gathering exercise but don't assume anyone knows the legal position for sure.

Secondly - try and correspond with the CSA through written letters delivered using special deliver. Many of us have also been lied to and mislead on the phone - even if you take names it's difficult to hold anyone to account.

Thirdly, good luck

Sou

Soubrette

It took some finding but I've managed to find a link from families need fathers:

http://www.fnf.org.uk/law-and-information/faqs/assessments

Again, I would only take this as a starting point as my ex gets a 1/7 reduction in his maintenance payments which is 52 nights a year - this article talks about 104 nights a year being the starting point for reductions for shared care.

However it also has this to say about non resident children:

The CSA can only make an assessment if the child(ren), PWC and AP are 'habitually resident in the UK'. There is no legal definition of 'habitually resident in the UK'. It is a question of fact, not of law. When a decision is being made about the fact they could consider past, continuing and intended future connections with the UK, any reason for leaving, the nature of work done outside the UK and, of course, any periods of residency in and out of the UK. This is the advice given to CSOs for determining habitual residence in the UK:

It might be worth the cost of joining FNF and see if this advice still stands.

Sou

missmontana

Comedy wrote: »

I will definitely be getting a DNA test done before i accept any agreement.



Another question though.. when they first spoke to me they asked if I disputed parental responsibility. I said no. They told me that if that ever changes it will be on me to prove. Is there any way I can push back on this and have them fund the DNA test?

.

A DNA test is definitely the way forward, if you have one thru the CSA it will be about £215, which you have to pay, if you are not the father then they will refund you the money.

But like others say, if the mother and child are not resident in the UK then can she even claim thru them???

kelloggs36

Comedy wrote: »

Unfortunately a private agreement is competely out of the question. Here's a bit of background as it will help you understand the situation in full..

The ex was never a partner of mine. We met while i was working (in quite a good job) abroad and had a casual encounter a few times. The woman has legit mental health issues that cause her to act like this.. I know this must be heard a lot too but it's true. Anyway, she told me she was on birth control (she wasn't), we had unprotected sex (once - it's all it takes!), she called me later from her home country to tell me she was pregnant and wanted to keep it.

Since then she's not let me see him and told me i only can with a court order, not responded to any of my attempts of contact other than three meetings a few weeks after he was born where I could see him.. it's been 4 months since I last saw him. The only thing I heard from her was her asking for my address to inform the CSA, which I gave her.

I'm really not a cynical person but it's got to the point where I think she saw me as a successful, single person and intended to get pregnant just because she isn't in a relationship but wants a child and wants to be financially sound. Because of this I think she will do anything she can to stop me from being a part of their life in any way other than financially. It's really taken a long time for me to accept this but I can't see any other rationale behind her actions.

I've had some legal advice on the subject now and I've also read through the Child Support Act myself (terrible but informative read) and I believe I have a valid case to object to the costs..

The Child Support Act states that any decision must take into account the welfare of any child such a decision affects. Now, i have a daughter who stays with me regularly (me and the mother aren't together but are on great terms). We have an agreement outside the CSA and I see them both all the time. If we look at the situation the CSA will be putting me in I'll either have to a: move to London to work, or b: not accept the job and sign on.

If I were to take option a this will reduce the amount of days I see my daughter from 7 a week to 2 and the amount of nights she spends with me from 2/3 to a definite zero.. although I'll stlil be able to pay our private agreement this will definitely have an effect on our relationship and therefore her welfare.

Now if we take option b although I will still see her, I will no longer be able to pay her mother the money I've prearranged, I'll have to sign on and I'll become a burden on the state (the latter two points mean nothing to the CSA but the first can also be counted as affecting her welfare).

The only valid option is c which is for me to accept the job for the benefit of everyone (my children and myself) but for the circumstances to be taken into account that I need to be around for my children, can't move away and therefore lose a lot of my income in the cost of getting to and from work.

What do you think about the argument?.. I'd be willing to take it through the courts myself to have it heard, it's not a dispute against the mother so we won't have to deal in the courts (I don't want that one bit) and also if I do this before I start work I'll get legal aid.

Your arguments unfortunately mean nothing in Child Support law. You NEED to get a DNA test done to confirm you are the father -that is the key factor here. Your private agreement with your other ex will NOT be taken into consideration; if you ARE the father, then the only way to reduce costs would be to get the other ex to make a claim with the CSA then the 20% of your net income would be split between the two PWCs.

This is however, jumping the gun a bit. Provided that you have not already accepted paternity by signing the form to say this, or by verbally stating this over the phone, then you need to quickly send the form back stating that you do not believe that you are the parent of the child. This will kick-start the proceedings and you will be informed about how you need to go about arranging the test.

kelloggs36

Ah, I have just read your post which states that you have already verbally accepted paternity. IN that case you will need to get your own tests completed (which are accepted by the CSA). You may need to apply to the courts if the PWC does not agree to the tests for a declaration of non-parentage.

Comedy

just to add again.. We both now live in the UK. She always lived here but was on holiday where I lived when we met.

So if I get a reduction based on care of my daughter does that mean I will pay (just an example). 17% or my income as 10% to the recent one and 7% to the prior one or 8.5% to each?.. basically how will the split work after that's taken into account?

Comedy

Soubrette.. Thanks for the link It's proving very helpful