child maintenance help needed

caz1976

hi,
im a single parent to 3 kids[i dont work],me and my ex split up 5 yrs ago,we were not married but were together 14 yrs.when we split he was on benefits including dla,so the csa was taking the minimum of 5 pound off him.now the situation has changed,he was going through a court case at the time of our split for clinical negligence,which he has now won in excess of 100,000.everytime i ask him for anything for the kids which are 18,16,9 he expects me to pay half which i cant do as im on benefits.all i need to know is what to do should he now be paying me more or doesnt it affect how much he pays now that he has this money.he is going around wasting it on anyone and everyone when i am struggling to support my kids.if i go to the csa i know he wouldnt admit he has this money and would put it into someone elses account so that it looks like its not his and if i ask him hed just say no,which he is only doing as i have another partner and child,if i wasnt with my partner i know hed give me what i need any advice would be great i dont know what to do me and my kids are struggling to survive and their dad is wasting thousands of pounds please help

HappyMJ

Payments for clinical negligence tend to be an amount to cover many years possibly until his retirement. The annual amount therefore may not be much. Lets say he's 45 and the amount is for the next 20 years that's £5,000 per year then you could claim a percentage of that amount for 10 years for the youngest child as your youngest is 9. You would need to see a solicitor to see what you could get. CSA can do a variation to enforce the amount. Be aware the £100,000 can be put into trust so he gets an annual amount rather than as a lump sum so don't expect 25% of the £100k upfront.

caz1976

thx for your responce,he is 39,our eldest 18 is in uni our second 16 is in full time college and 9 yr old at school.i dont think he gets an annual amount as hes been buying cars caravans and not just for him but all his family so he must have a lump sum.what is a variation and how does it work,does it mean that he will have to give me what he owes or they put a holt on his savings ?and will they just take it off him and will it affect my benefits

HappyMJ

Lots of questions...A solicitor is your best bet. Go and make an appointment.

I'll try anyway..Your eldest wouldn't be covered by CSA as he is in advanced education now so it's for 2 kids you'd be getting the variation for. The eldest's expenses is just an informal agreement. He has over £65,000 of assets other than his home and business so a variation will take into account the income from that amount. It's a completely different calculation to the standard one from income. He has to give you what he owes anyway so if there are arrears then you can tell CSA about it, hopefully they'll get the arrears or they'll freeze his account and give you all the arrears from that. It doesn't affect your benefits.

I'd get your solicitor to go for a private arrangement of at least £50 per week for the next 10 years regardless of what he actually has at any point in time. See what the solicitor says though. It might and should be more. Depends on how much of a fight you want.

hamilet

If you were together for 14 years, surely then only the 9 year old child is his? If so, you should be pursuing the father of your 16 year old child for maintenance.

HappyMJ

hamilet wrote: »

If you were together for 14 years, surely then only the 9 year old child is his? If so, you should be pursuing the father of your 16 year old child for maintenance.

I figured it as they have been split up for 5 years plus the 14 years they were together so therefore they got together 19 years ago. Isn't that right?

caz1976

yes thats correct 14 years together and 5 years apart ,if they freeze his account and give me what they owe bearing in mind that he only got this money early part of this year is that when they will back date it from and will this affect if it is 50 pound a week my benefits i receive as until my youngest is at full time school[not my ex partners child ]so i cant go bk to work till then,what kind of solicitor do i need to see and what will he do,write to him or something as i said i am scarred that if he finds out im going to try and get maintenance he would transfer his money to his moms account ,if he does that what could happen

DX2

Have you thought that now he has a payout he might actually have to pay back the money he received over the years in benefits. So there is probably a high possibility that you still won't get anything.

System

He will have to pay back the following if received, out of the compensation

• Disability Working Allowance
• Reduced Earnings Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Income Support
• Sickness Benefit
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Statutory Sick Pay paid before 6 April1994
• Invalidity Pension
• Unemployability Supplement
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Unemployment Benefit

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/z1-recovery-of-benefits-and/1.-the-law/

Caz3121

caz1976 wrote: »

will this affect if it is 50 pound a week my benefits i receive as until my youngest is at full time school[not my ex partners child ]so i cant go bk to work

Maintenance no longer affects benefits

Does the father of the youngest not pay maintenance?

bdt1

As others have said, if he has over £65,000 then you can apply for variation, just contact CSA about this, but even if he transfers money into another persons name, he can be reported for money laundering which is of course a criminal offence for both parties involved