should i take further action?

monmantre

hi,

i have been divorced for close to 7 years, i have a 13 year old son with my ex husband.

when we divorced we had a statement of arrangement drawn up by my solicitor as we both agreed on shared custody for our son.
my son stays overnight with his dad twice a week and i receive £90 per month from him as child support- it used to be higher but he told me his circustances had changed so the amount lowered.

recently he has been promoted, he has 3 tenants living in his house and he also works another job part time but im not too sure if he has made this second job known to the tax people.

£90 a month doesnt get you anywhere these days especially for a teenager, so i wanted him to increase payments-he is refusing...

should i call csa and let them know he has extra income coming in that he doesnt declare? i dont want to start any trouble as my ex is a very difficult and spiteful guy, BUT on the other hand i want to get the amount i deserve..

can anyone help me out?

borders_dude

monmantre wrote: »

hi,

i have been divorced for close to 7 years, i have a 13 year old son with my ex husband.

when we divorced we had a statement of arrangement drawn up by my solicitor as we both agreed on shared custody for our son.
my son stays overnight with his dad twice a week and i receive £90 per month from him as child support- it used to be higher but he told me his circustances had changed so the amount lowered.

recently he has been promoted, he has 3 tenants living in his house and he also works another job part time but im not too sure if he has made this second job known to the tax people.

£90 a month doesnt get you anywhere these days especially for a teenager, so i wanted him to increase payments-he is refusing...

should i call csa and let them know he has extra income coming in that he doesnt declare? i dont want to start any trouble as my ex is a very difficult and spiteful guy, BUT on the other hand i want to get the amount i deserve..

can anyone help me out?

You can contact the CSA and ask for another assessment to be done based on the fact you reasonably believe there has been a significant change in the NRPs financial circumstances.

AnxiousMum

Have you been going through the CSA? Is the 'Statement of Arrangement' enforcable?

kelloggs36

If any order made in court is over 13 months old you can apply to the CSA anyway.

PlayingHardball

If you are currently with the CSA and if he is refusing to increase payments, I would definately ask for a review from the CSA, and possibly ask for a variation based on undeclared earnings that he receives for the lodgers. Now, don't quote me on that, but I do think the CSA would class that as 'income'.

If you are working with the ex on a private agreement, then you are within your rights to apply to the CSA if he is being obstinate about increasing payments. £90 seems very low to me, depends on his income! That would put him on only £215 per week net, does that sound right to you?

monmantre

the original £90 was through the csa but that was set up close to 7 years ago when his income was lower, but now with a managerial promotion and the other extra income i am sure he is earning close to £400 a week.

does £90 a month sound right to those who have shared custody? most people i speak to say its very low?! im soo confused right now.

monmantre

AnxiousMum wrote: »

Have you been going through the CSA? Is the 'Statement of Arrangement' enforcable?

im going to have to look into my statement of arrangement to be sure.
we have set days where we have our son etc but over the years my ex has asked me to swap this day, have my son and extra day here/there so hes not really stuck to it 100%-does that make any difference?

PlayingHardball

Is this new CSA or old CSA rules? (I think if it is pre April 2003 it is old)

£90 sounds like a very little amount!

If this assessment is on the old CSA rules (CSA1), there are some PWC on this site who have found it more in their financial favour to close the CSA1 case down and reopen a new claim on CSA2. If you did that, you would lose 13 weeks payments, but the gain could possibly outweigh the loss. Kelloggs is the expert on just about everything, but especially CSA1.

monmantre

PlayingHardball wrote: »

Is this new CSA or old CSA rules? (I think if it is pre April 2003 it is old)

£90 sounds like a very little amount!

If this assessment is on the old CSA rules (CSA1), there are some PWC on this site who have found it more in their financial favour to close the CSA1 case down and reopen a new claim on CSA2. If you did that, you would lose 13 weeks payments, but the gain could possibly outweigh the loss. Kelloggs is the expert on just about everything, but especially CSA1.[/QUOmy cliam was made in 2004/5 so thats new csa i think?

newyearnewme_2

You ask if £90 is low, that should not be the question. As each set of circumstances is different and £90 for one child from a NRP who contributes nothing else (emotionally or finacially) and who earns £400pw would be less then they should be paying, as Child Support (new rules) is worked on % of NRP's wage with an allowance for each overnight stay.

What you need to ask is yourself is does he generally have the child two nights every week or is it more like three (or just the one). As three nights is more liked shared care whereas one night is more like contact.
Does he take the child on holiday?
Does he help out with extras i.e school trips, football boots etc?
Who provides the clothes for the child when he stays at the NRP's Do you send clothes or does the child have a wardrobe full of clothes at the NRP's
Who pays for the travel for contact between NRP and the child?
Who gets the Child benefit, Child tax credit for the child
Who pays for childcare?

If he helps with the extras and has shared care and gets no benefits then this is completly different set of circumstances.

Why does he have the lodgers? Is it because he is struggling or has he been living the high life?

All these different strands are why I don't think this has a yes/no answer.

Is he a good dad? If he was to give you more Child Support would he have to work more hours meaning he is less able to see the child?

Do you need the extra money? Or would it just be a nice bonus?
If you don't need the extra money and you think he should be paying more could you see if he would set up a savings account for the child so that he knows the money is being used for the child, and you feel that he is contributing fairly?

Hope this helps

PlayingHardball

The question SHOULD be...is £90 equivalent to the CSA guidelines of 15% net earnings? This is CSA 2 and that is what the guidelines are.