Nil assesment- how to prove this is false?

katiesmummy

My friend has just had a letter back from the CSA after applying for maintenance for her 3 yr old son. She split from her ex 18 months ago but never applied for maintenance at the time as he said he would dispute paternity even though there is no reason to. Unfortunately she was made redundant with immediate effect 6 weeks ago and felt that she had no choice but to apply in order to help pay the bills etc.

Anyway, this letter came on Friday and says that the assessment has been calculated as nil as her ex has an income of zero. We know he is working as a self-employed electrician, he can't possibly have zero income as he is constantly writing on his Facebook page about how many jobs he's done on a particular day and things he's bought etc etc. He has apparently just booked a cruise for him, his new girlfriend and her daughter- pretty hard to do if you have no income!

If we took screenshots of his facebook page where it clearly states that he is working and is spending money like water would this carry any weight with the CSA? Her ex hasn't seen their son since the split and said he has a new family now (a stepdaughter) and doesn't need his son (his loss). I do think that he should be made to pay something towards his son's upbringing though, contact or no contact. She actually emailed him and asked if he would give her £10 a week just to cover nappies, wipes etc etc and he told her to fcuk off and to get off her lazy !!! and get a job to support her child. She has been frantically looking for any type of job for the past 6 weeks with no luck.

Does anyone have any advice? I did tell her to post directly on here herself but forums scare her lol

febe

tell her to contact the centre dealing with her case and request a variation application form, she needs to apply on the grounds of lifestyle inconsistant with income, take prints of his face book page and gatther all the info possible re his current lifestlye ie houses, cars etc

febe

tell her to contact the centre dealing with her case and request a variation application form, she needs to apply on the grounds of lifestyle inconsistant with income, take prints of his face book page and gatther all the info possible re his current lifestlye ie houses, cars etc

DUTR

febe wrote: »

tell her to contact the centre dealing with her case and request a variation application form, she needs to apply on the grounds of lifestyle inconsistant with income, take prints of his face book page and gatther all the info possible re his current lifestlye ie houses, cars etc

Gather all the info possible yes, but do not assume everything people post on facebook is true, or even that the person's page is actually them, it is so easy to set up an account.
Your friend will have to join the queue of PWC's wh wanna get back at their ex or just want help with CS monies

woody01

febe wrote: »

tell her to contact the centre dealing with her case and request a variation application form, she needs to apply on the grounds of lifestyle inconsistant with income, take prints of his face book page and gatther all the info possible re his current lifestlye ie houses, cars etc

Facebook pages are not evidence.
I could tell you i am the King fo Siam, but it doesn't make it fact.

clearingout

she shouldn't worry about the DNA thing - the CSA will simply order a test if he denies paternity. She fills in the paperwork, he fills it in and the test is arranged - in my exs case, he didn't do the paperwork so the assumed paternity (there is no assuming at all!). There will be no come back on her -he'll still have to pay for the months it take the test to go through - he can delay payment (assuming he ever gets off that nil assessment) but he can't stop it altogether.

Tell her to recognise that she is going to be in this now for the long term and that getting money from someone who is self-employed and who doesn't want to pay is very difficult. she has two choices - either go with it and fight him or give up. Personally, I'm fighting but can acknowledge that some people don't think the fight is worth it. I have three young children who are not getting what they deserve, in my opinion, and their father needs to contribute.

mitchaa

Waste of time and your effort to be honest.

As others have said, facebook will not be deemed as evidence as half the rubbish you read on status updates are false or exaggerated.

Fighting the self employed for maintenance, blood, sweat and tears and often no end result.

kelloggs36

Not always - my case wasn't. Took 9 years mind, but I got a nil assessment changed to £76.73 per week backdated and he paid up eventually! Owes nothing now.