CSA Special circumstances?

snoopkat

Hi
First of all sorry if i am posting in the wrong place...

I have a question regarding CSA calculations - I am pregnant and the babys dad has left me. He believes the CSA will make him pay 15% of his net income to me monthly when the baby arrives. He earns around £30k.

I actually asked him for slightly more than this for the reason that he has £300k plus in the bank. He said "but not anymore becuase i have put it all in a house", meaning that he has obviously offered on a house which he will complete on before the baby is born, seemingly to avoid the CSA from counting themoney in the bank.

This will be his only property and he will live in it - but he will be mortgage free.

I had a look on the CSA site and they say that if someone is deemed to be living in a manner which is above thier income they can be asked to pay more. I think its clear that he will be in this case as he will basically have his entire salary as disposable income.

Does anyone know if that means that he will have to pay more?

I want to point out that i am not being greedy, just want to be clue-ed up as he is turning nasty and would like to know where I stand.

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks

hobo28

I don't think that it will count. The bit that covers people living in a manner above their income is for people who are self employed, declare they earn nothing yet drive about in a merc.

Here your ex has bought a house which i don't think is reason enough. I can see why it annoys you though.

Older_but_not_wiser_2

He will have to pay 15% of his net income as CSA payments( I think pension payments can also be taken off his net income total too). And quite rightly so - I'm all for absent parents paying their dues.
I should know, I've been one for 10 years.

However, I do have an issue with resident parents (male or female), who think they should get more money than they are due.

snoopkat

I would never presume to "Get more than i am due". The reason I ask is that having left me and got himself a new girlfriend, he is also asking for a lot of access and a lot of other "rights" which I dont really want to give but will for the sake of my child having a good relationship with her father.

It hurts to see him and it hurts to see him with someone else and although i am by no means expecting more money from him in exchange for seeing his child (i really am not that ruthless) i just feel that he cant really have his cake and eat it and the fact that he has told me that the reason he bought the house was to make sure the money in thebank couldnt get counted towards the CSA payments has made me very aware that i am giving everything yet getting little real commitment back.

The only reason I wanted him to pay more than the 15% CSA thing was that i would like to be able to put some money by each month so that I can get this things for my child that she wants later - school trips, the latest toys or whatever it may be. I dont want her to feel hard downe by while daddy lives the good life.

If he even matched the amount he spends on weed and tobacco every month it would be good enough for me but thats another story.

Just wanted it to be clear that i am not being greedy and am by no means asking him to fund my Gucci handbag fetish or the like...

Remember he chose not to be with us...

k

hobo28

Hi Snoop.

Sorry, sometimes being a single parent is very unfair. The non-resident parent always seems to get the easy life. You're going to have to get used to it. This won't be the first and it certainly won't be the last thing you'll both "disagree" upon.

As I understand it, he's perfectly within his rights to do what he's done. Is it fair? Probably not. Is he entitled to do so? Yes he is.

Just wait til he starts not bothering to come and see his child because he's "too busy" or whatever.

My advice is to take the 15% and concentrate on building a better future for you both. It used to really annoy me that my ex could go to the pub every night with her new bloke and cooking dinner was a valid excuse why she couldn't have the children but at the of the day it makes no difference.

Moving on and being happy is the best defence. Besides, its not a good idea to rely upon the child maintenance if you can avoid it because it will forever give him a hold over you. So in the future if you fall out etc. he will just stop paying just to "punish" you.

At the end of the day, you will be the one who brings up your child, see them grow into an adult and that is priceless. When he/she grows up, they will know who brought them up and sacrificed for them. Living in a big house etc. will mean very little.

jordan_gibson

Hey Snoop - I don't know your situation but if your ex is prepared to leave you when pregnant then good ridance!! Like I say, I may be well out of line here becuase obviously I do not know what has gone on but from what what I have briefly read - you will be better off!

I have just split from my partner after I found out she was sleeping with the guy next door and after speaking to my Solicitor I will have to pay 15% of my nett wage every month.

You already knew about the 15% but I also own a bit of property and have some savings (no where near £300K unfortunately) and the solicitor said that these were mine. This was mainly because we are not married - I think if you are married then this may be different?????

Whilst the law understands that your ex has to find a place to live I would have thought that £300K would buy him and you a great place! It should also give him a good piece of mind that his child is going to grow up in a safe, clean, warm enviroment - or is he not bothered about this??

ps.. What line of work is he in becuase if he has £300K in savings I need some of that !! lol

snoopkat

I have to say in his defence that the reason he has all this money is that his parents died and this is basically what he got from his inheritence and he would be the first to say that he would rather have his folks back than the money - and to be fair i think i would rather have that for him (he has suffered a lot losing them) and for my baby to have its grandparents too.

None-the-less, the fact is he has this money.

Thanks for the advice and you are all right - i need to move on. I suppose i am trying to be as clue-ed up as possible so that when the time comes i know what i can expect should be need to make a legal agreement etc.

yes he's a git for leaving me pregnant and oddly he totally doesnt see it like that! and again, yes he could get us both somewhere to live with that money - but again - he doesnt see it like that!

As the baby is still in my tummy i dont think he realises the concept of wanting the best for it and actually "wanting" to pay as much as he can to give the child a good life. I know a lot of men who really want to do that - almost to thier detriment really as i think some of them get taken for a ride a little.

Thanks for the advice though and now the next question is access! He wants to go to a solicitor as an intermediary and have me sign him some rights over - which in theory i am happy to do as i never intend to come between him and his child - but i cant help feeling he wont come out of it well. I have been told he will only get a couple of hours a week max and that would be with me there, mainly as having never lived with the child there is no pre-existing relationship. I dont really think thats enough for him to bond with his baby.

Ah well. Being pregnant and alone is v sad but at least i am not missing out on the "little things" - he knows he is and like someone said i will get to see our daughter grow up and get my joy and solice from that!

jordan_gibson

snoopkat wrote:

I have to say in his defence that the reason he has all this money is that his parents died and this is basically what he got from his inheritence and he would be the first to say that he would rather have his folks back than the money - and to be fair i think i would rather have that for him (he has suffered a lot losing them) and for my baby to have its grandparents too.

None-the-less, the fact is he has this money.

Thanks for the advice and you are all right - i need to move on. I suppose i am trying to be as clue-ed up as possible so that when the time comes i know what i can expect should be need to make a legal agreement etc.

yes he's a git for leaving me pregnant and oddly he totally doesnt see it like that! and again, yes he could get us both somewhere to live with that money - but again - he doesnt see it like that!

As the baby is still in my tummy i dont think he realises the concept of wanting the best for it and actually "wanting" to pay as much as he can to give the child a good life. I know a lot of men who really want to do that - almost to thier detriment really as i think some of them get taken for a ride a little.

Thanks for the advice though and now the next question is access! He wants to go to a solicitor as an intermediary and have me sign him some rights over - which in theory i am happy to do as i never intend to come between him and his child - but i cant help feeling he wont come out of it well. I have been told he will only get a couple of hours a week max and that would be with me there, mainly as having never lived with the child there is no pre-existing relationship. I dont really think thats enough for him to bond with his baby.

Ah well. Being pregnant and alone is v sad but at least i am not missing out on the "little things" - he knows he is and like someone said i will get to see our daughter grow up and get my joy and solice from that!

I have a 2 year old son and seeing him born was, quite simply, the highlight of my life so far! Because me and my ex will now be living apart it will be hard not seeing him every day but you have all of these experiences ahead of you so the fantastic journey is only just starting - therefore plenty to look forward to!

Solicitors are expensive, but my God do they know their stuff - and so they should! :rotfl: If you are still speaking and on pretty good terms then this would not be a bad idea becuase the solicitor will tell you both exactly where you stand. When I went to see mine, she was very blunt and straight to the point but it was a nice feeling walking out of there knowing exactly what the score was and what needed to be done.

rchddap1

My immediate reaction is why would he feel he needs to see a solicitor to gain access or to gain parental rights?

Firstly, as long as he is named on the birth certificate as the child's father he will automatically gain parental responsibility / rights. For example, if the child is in hospital he can give consent for an operation (and various other rights of a father). What rights is he talking about you signing over? You shouldn't have to 'sign over' anything.

If he's seen a solicitor it will be for access, stay's overnight etc... Remember that courts are made up of people too. They can see how silly it is to have a expected a father to have built up a relationship with a child that has not even been born yet! Where did you get this advice that he'll only be allowed supervised access for a few hours a week? If you don't think a couple of hours is enough then there is a chance that the court will see things that way too.

I suppose I'm questioning whether he's going for joint custody?

If he has seen a solicitor I would suggest that you see one too just in case.

Lady_S

To be honest I think you need to count your blessings he is going to pay easily through the CSA.

I don't really understand why you are asking for more, other than greed. That money was bequeathed to him in a will. It wasn't money that was earn't while you two were together, therefore he should get to do what he wants with it. If you had been married it would be a different story.

I agree with the above advice. If he is named on the birth certificate he will get parental responsiblity. You will therefore be expected to provide reasonable access. That will be as soon as the baby is here, you don't get to demand supervised visits unless you think that the baby could come to some harm. By this I don't just mean you don't think he is capable, but he is an alcoholic, or is physically violent.

dmg24

I don't really understand why you are asking for more, other than greed.

I completely understand why you want more money from the father of your child. Any mother surely wants the absolute best for their child, and hopefully once the child is born the father will realise this too, and give what he can afford (evidently more than the statutory 15%).

You are not asking for something that he cannot easily afford, and you are not doing it for yourself, but for your child. I think that is commendable.

Good luck with the pregnancy ... and your new baby! x