help csa a little infotmation needed

kewns

hello i have 7 month old baby which saddley i dnt get to c i have been to court and tried my best but they only give me two hours a week with her in a contact center due to the fact myu ex said i was was voiolent which is a complete lie but hey we all no they take the womens side
i have now had to give up this 2 hours a week as my baby girl was getting to distress every time i would see her and i felt it would be beter for all as i dnt wont to see her upset i will try again when shes is older and she can make her own mind up no doubt my ex will turn her mind againsht me or the fact that shes has a new fella which i think my daughther thinks is her really dad as she spends all her time with him but thats life one day the truth will come out its shame theirs loads of dads out thier or dont wanna see thier kids and dnt care and then theres ppl like me who do but just get mad ex girlfriend
any way on to the main point i now have to pay £260 pound pm to the csa
for next six months then it goes down to 188 pm i am happy with that
my only problem is i now have to work more hours at work so i will be left with some money at the end of the month
you c if i put it this way i will work an extra 3 shifths on top of what i use to do just so i have left over about 100 pounds a month for me due to fact of my outgoings and debts even dou i still can not affodrd to pay my debts
two things am wandering is there any benifits i may be able to claim and with the extra work i have to do will the csa want more of me cos if they do it will end up being pointless to work am slaving my butt of know just to cover it so if any one can help then pls do if any want wants any more information just ask
cheers
ste

Nightowl

Hi,
CSA will only ask for more money when they become aware you are earning more. They reassess every few years (unless your ex requests it - so don't let on to anyone she knows that you are getting more now) but apart from that it's worth keeping your head down. If they twig you are earning more they can backdate the new figure (I think up to 6 months) but then they can't leave you with nothing so you will just end up with backpay which is interest free. There is a maximum they will take off you for your daughter per week, you could look up how they make there calculations on some web sites if you do a few searches. THe amount your ex contribute- ie wether she earns any money also effects the figure, which i think is wrong as a lot of people deliberately don't work. Also DO let CSA know if you have any more children in the future as this dramatically effects your payment, but strangly they won't backdate that if you don't tell them immediately!!!!
By the way for anyone reading this I feel CSA is unfair on both the Parent with child AND the absent parent in various respects I know women and men who have got the rough end of the deal.
Hope this helps but do find out a bit more on the web and see how you can best remain solvent (ie pay them less). CSA themselves are not very helpful and tend to be a bit judgemental - or certainly give that impression.
Also try and send your daughter cards on important dates, even if she doesn't get them you can honestly tell her you tried.
Nightowl

kewns

thanks very much for your advice what web sites would be good to serach i can only think of the csa one i do think its unfair on both parties i have a tatto of her name on my arm and am soon to get a pic of hair done underneath so i can show her whens shes older i was thinking that i will send birthday and xmas cards and presents but i do thinks my ex is about to move so if she does i will be unable to send them then but i we have to wait and c
but once again thank you for your advice i was thinking that when they will come bck to to check my money but if she gets job soon they may mot come bck as thier would be no point i think as the would be no money for the govement unless she ask them to.

personal i think they shuld change the csa and should make it more of one set ammount so ppl can work more if they want or in my case need to
at the end of the day by demaning more if you work more is only going to make ppl stop working which would mean less money for the kids

thank you very much
cheers
ste

Nightowl

A good place to start would be CSA's own website http://www.csa.gov.uk/ they seem to have a maintenance calculater on there now, so you can see how they would ask you to pay by putting different figures in.

kelloggs36

I note from one of the replies that the advice was that if the CSA twig that you earn more, they can backdate an increase for 6 months - THIS IS NOT TRUE. There is no legal obligation to offer information regarding a change in circumstances, HOWEVER, when they ASK you what your circumstances are, you are legally obliged to tell them. So, if you increase your working hours and don't tell them, you haven't done anything wrong. When, however, they ASK you what your hours are, they will ask you for evidence of a couple of months, to average them, at this point they will possibly ask for an increase in your contribution, BUT it will only be from the date they requested the info from. So, if you don't tell them voluntarily in advance, you won't have to pay any more than your current assessment. THe only downside is, that if your ex twigs, she can inform the CSA which will prompt them to ask you for your details again, which in turn will prompt a new assessment. But if she doesn't know, she can't tell them!!

Hope this helps