csa drama

lyssa_2

Sorry if this is a bit long winded but need to explain it in full before anyone will be able to help me.
My partner has 2 children from his previous relationship, one girl one boy. hes paid a private agreement maintenance since the break up. About a year ago he found out he had another son from a one night stand and has also done the same.
I knew all about his children when we got together and since weve had our own baby, nothing has changed with payments, infact they get alot more as i treat them to new clothes most weekends, days out, holidays, and we also buy the school uniforms. my oh doesnt earn a great deal so hasnt been able to do this before without a second income in the household
Since my lo has arrived theres been alot of trouble with the ex with the 2 children. she demanded more money for clothes, unfortuantly with me being on mat pay we just couldnt afford it and offered to give her the clothes we have for them at our house, this wasnt good enough and its caused huge rows and shes took it to csa.
during the arguements it has come out that his 7 year old daughter may not be his. so upon csa contacting him he has told them this and wants a dna to find out, hes still making payments for her and will even if she wasnt biologically his daughter, he just wants to no for piece of mind. after a few days csa contacted him and have told him the mother refuses to do the dna test and they are happy that he is the father regardless because he was on the birth certificate. So how is he ever to find out? Also weve had a letter today with how much the payments are going to be, they have only included the two children and my baby but not his 3rd child. the payments are more than we can afford, to the point that something has to give and im worried that its going to be the mortgage. the other option is that i have to go bk to work full time n my baby is only 7 weeks and ill have to pay his maintenance, i cant see how this is fair that my little one loses out on his mummy so i cant pay for my oh's kids. is there anything that he can do to reduce the payments slightly? we dont recieve any beniefits, hes only on minimum wage but the mortgage repayments are high. csa have gone by last years wages im sure as hes never earned the amount they think this year, he did alot of over time last year. does anyone have any advice? tia

Marisco

The CSA haven't included the 3rd child, as they won't know about it, unless either the PWC or your oh tells them. They will take 20% of your oh's wages, less a % for your child. They will also include CTC as income, and all of WTC if he earns more than you, half if you earn the same and nothing if you earn the most. Your wages will not be counted at all. As for DNA testing, depends how far you want to go with it. If the PWC refuses, then you can always get a sample yourself, when they stay with you. It's entirely up to yourselves, but if the child is not your oh's, then he won't have to pay for him/her. His liability will then go down to 15% of his income (less % for your child)

lyssa_2

hi, my oh has told them and they called his mum and its still not on the forms. theyve put his weekly wages down as 333.40 pw and its not its about 240 so that explains why so much. my oh just rang them and the case workers away so nothing they can do. is there anything he can do if the payments are to high? he has to save £200pw for his bills alone.

clearingout

1. Re:DNA testing do a peace of mind test which you can now buy in Boots, I believe. This isn't a result which will be acceptable to the CSA or the courts but it will give peace of mind or it won't. If it doesn't, he will need to pursue it through the courts to get a court approved test which he can then submit to the CSA if he isn't the father and they will reduce his payments. I would suggest it's all very honourable paying for a child you've brought up but the fact of the matter is, he's struggling financially and he's not obliged to pay for the child. He can be generous when he can afford it.

2. He must have submitted payslips for the CSA to work out what he needs to pay? If not, where have they got their info from? Direct from his employer? If he asks for a reassessment and sends recent slips, his payments should reduce.

3. He will need to get the other child included in the assessment which will again, reduce his payments. The other mum may not like it, but some money is better than none (as many of us will testify!) and she'll have to get used to it. He needs to be fair to all his children and this is the only way. That doesn't stop him providing extras when he can (or when you're able to help out), but he is only obliged to pay what the CSA say. So pay it whilst you're on maternity leave and look at the situation later.

Congratulations on being a supportive partner and recognising that all the children need to be treated equally. So many new partners fail miserably at this! As a PWC, it's very refreshing to see that there are decent people out there who can see the bigger picture.

clearingout

OOps - not sure where the face came from in DNA but it's perhaps rather apt! Sorry!

DX2

lyssa wrote: »

during the arguements it has come out that his 7 year old daughter may not be his. so upon csa contacting him he has told them this and wants a dna to find out, hes still making payments for her and will even if she wasnt biologically his daughter,

Why would someone pay child support for a child if it turned out they weren't the biological father? Another at least 12 years of throwing money away if the child isn't his...random.

DX2

lyssa wrote: »

About a year ago he found out he had another son from a one night stand and has also done the same.

we dont recieve any beniefits, hes only on minimum wage but the mortgage repayments are high. csa have gone by last years wages im sure as hes never earned the amount they think this year, he did alot of over time last year. does anyone have any advice? tia

So has he done a DNA test for the one night stand, or is he happy to believe he is the father?

Have you applied for CTC/WTC and CB yet?

DUTR

DX2 wrote: »

Why would someone pay child support for a child if it turned out they weren't the biological father? Another at least 12 years of throwing money away if the child isn't his...random.

I can see why, some blokes like to be cukolded, but I agree it does seem rather a bizarre story (not untrue)
Not sure about the OP's claim though that the PWC refuses to do a dna test, but the csa can assume paternity if the Op's OH is named on the BC, saying all that I don't think I know of one father who's child does not have many fatherly features in the childs face

clearingout

DUTR wrote: »

I can see why, some blokes like to be cukolded, but I agree it does seem rather a bizarre story (not untrue)
Not sure about the OP's claim though that the PWC refuses to do a dna test, but the csa can assume paternity if the Op's OH is named on the BC, saying all that I don't think I know of one father who's child does not have many fatherly features in the childs face

PMSL! My youngest is the image of both his oldest brother and his father. Ex commented when he first saw him 'oh, you look like A (eldest) and I'm your daddy'. Didn't stop the t****r from demanding a DNA test 4 weeks later, did it?!

DUTR

clearingout wrote: »

PMSL! My youngest is the image of both his oldest brother and his father. Ex commented when he first saw him 'oh, you look like A (eldest) and I'm your daddy'. Didn't stop the t****r from demanding a DNA test 4 weeks later, did it?!

Heh heh , my daughter has the same features as me, but I still opted for the dna test, simply because it was my choice and the PWC could not call the shots on that score

kelloggs36

The CSA have presumed parentage as per their rules - he is named on the birth cert so he cannot get a DNA test via the CSA. The only way is to apply to the courts - if the PWC refuses then the courts can declare him NOT the father. As for the other child, he needs to discuss getting the mother to apply to the CSA so that it can be taken into consideration - they cannot take them into account otherwise.