ex wants 10yrs back pay

meltonlad

ive been paying my ex a lump sum each month since we split back in 2000 ive mostly paid cash or paypal as we never wanted the CSA involved but i got a txt from her yesturday saying that as from tomorrow she is going to contact the CSA and say that im not paying..... can she do this ?? can the CSA back date it 10 yrs ?? i have very little proof of paying her as we have been the best of mates about it all.. ive only got 11 months left to pay as my son is coming to live with me once he is 16 and this is the last thing i needed from her !!!!!

shell_542

The CSA will not backdate the payments if a CSA case hasn't been running in the past. They will only be interested in payments starting from the day they first contact you. Don't panic if the CSA have never been contacted before. My advice is to stop making any payments to her straight away. Go on the CSA website and use thei online calculator to work out how much they ask you to pay a week/month. Start putting that away in a separate account/somewhere it won't get spent until they contact you as it can sometimes take a while for an assessment to be done and you will be accruing arrears. They will increase your payments at first to 40% of your income to clear it, so if you can say "no, I'll clear my arrears all in one go now before I start paying from next month" then you'll be in better stead. Fortunately you don't have too long to seal with the CSA it looks like, so try to limit arrears with them.

If your ex complains about you stopping paying just say "it was your choice to go to the CSA. I'll wait to hear from them".

HappyMJ

Personally i'd keep paying but through paypal or standing order only where you would then have proof the payments had been made.

shell_542

You would have to ensure it was clearly marked as child maintenance, who for and for what period of time. If its just a deposit of money to the PWC or into the child's bank account as once the CSA case is open, the PWC can turn around and say it wasn't maintenance and the CSA will believe them and assume the payment is a "gift" or for some other purpose. The NRP would then be forced to pay again.

DUTR

HappyMJ wrote: »

Personally i'd keep paying but through paypal or standing order only where you would then have proof the payments had been made.

There would be proof payments have been made, but not necessarily for child support, so like the other poster would suggest putting some away until he hears from the csa, and only deal with them :T

Soubrette

Has your ex ever been on benefits?

Make sure that when your son does come to live with you that you arrange to be paid the child benefit and that you ask your ex for child maintenance payments.

If you are going to continue to pay the current child maintenance then do as shel suggests.

Mojisola

meltonlad wrote: »

ive been paying my ex a lump sum each month since we split back in 2000 ive mostly paid cash or paypal as we never wanted the CSA involved but i got a txt from her yesturday saying that as from tomorrow she is going to contact the CSA and say that im not paying..... can she do this ?? can the CSA back date it 10 yrs ?? i have very little proof of paying her as we have been the best of mates about it all.. ive only got 11 months left to pay as my son is coming to live with me once he is 16 and this is the last thing i needed from her !!!!!

Keep this and any other texts or emails you get from her. It would be worth asking her by text "What about all the money I've been paying you?" and keep the replies. She can't get backdated payments from the CSA but she may try to cause trouble in other ways. Evidence of this kind of behaviour will be useful if this happens.

Do you know what has prompted this change? Sometimes it's a new partner. Maybe in this case it's because she can see the end of your money and she doesn't want that part of her income to disappear.

speedster

and don't forget to inform the csa of change of PWC when your son comes to live with you.

contrary to the csa's beliefs, children do not magically become free to look after when they go to live with dad.

PlayingHardball

speedster wrote: »

contrary to the csa's beliefs, children do not magically become free to look after when they go to live with dad.

I've looked all over the CSA website for their belief, but can't seem to find it anywhere

It is my understanding that the CSA collect child support from all NRP, regardless of their gender.

13Kent

DONT PAY ANY MORE!

Even if you think you have proof that you have paid her it will be your word against hers and you may get lumbered with arrears for money you have already paid.

markeymark

13Kent wrote: »

DONT PAY ANY MORE!

Even if you think you have proof that you have paid her it will be your word against hers and you may get lumbered with arrears for money you have already paid.

so he just stop's paying then?? not very good advice in my opinion! keep paying but clearly have a papertrail and mark it as maintenance for child and dates etc

keep doing this until CSA contact you