child maintenance.

kelloggs36

kondormid wrote:

The whole CSA system is unfair. It is a lot better now than when it started out though. It does need a bit of tweeking still but believe me, it is 100% better.

This is the situation I am in...
I am a single parent of a little lad
I also have two children by another woman who live with her.
I am self employed, I get Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.
CSA looks at WTC and CTC as part of my income, and help themselves to 20% of it.

The result means, if I earn another £1. I lose 33p tax and NIC. I then lose another 37% of whats left (when my net goes up my WTC drops by 37p for every £1 I earn) which is another 25p gone! This leaves me 42p and the CSA take 20% of it...

The bottom line is that you have 3 children whom you need to support regardless of whether you live with them and you should only EXPECT to pay.

gizmo111

Course the whole CSA scenario could be avoided if the absent parent was able to negotiate fairly with the resident parent. Lots do...

kelloggs36

So true!! Unfortunately in my case my ex REFUSED to negotiate, he wanted to pay nothing and so I had no choice - his assessment????? 76.37 per WEEK. Now, I had asked him for 30 per week when I wanted to negotiate......

Gabs_3

Although the CSA will ask for a percentage of your dads income - there is a minimum living level that they can't go below so if the 20% would leave him with less than that level they can't take it all. I'm not sure of the exact amounts - have a look on the CSA website or contact your local CAB/neighbourhood law centre

mummyteare

Hi,
I know how frustrating it can be paying an ex. My husband pays $400 a month for a child we don't get to see. We've been to court and have a contact order which has been broken several times by the mum, to go back would cost money we don't have, for her to keep braking any orders given also she questions the child till she crys, after every visit and then phones to shout at my husband over sillying things(like using a public loo). We haven't seen his child since october 2005. We have a daughter who has never met her sibling and I will have to go back to work so we can afford the child support while the ex doesn't work!
Live isn't fair and the law isn't fair to fathers

kelloggs36

Gabs wrote:

Although the CSA will ask for a percentage of your dads income - there is a minimum living level that they can't go below so if the 20% would leave him with less than that level they can't take it all. I'm not sure of the exact amounts - have a look on the CSA website or contact your local CAB/neighbourhood law centre

That only applies if they are on benefits, or have an income of less than 200 pounds per week.

kelloggs36

mummyteare wrote:

Hi,
I know how frustrating it can be paying an ex. My husband pays $400 a month for a child we don't get to see. We've been to court and have a contact order which has been broken several times by the mum, to go back would cost money we don't have, for her to keep braking any orders given also she questions the child till she crys, after every visit and then phones to shout at my husband over sillying things(like using a public loo). We haven't seen his child since october 2005. We have a daughter who has never met her sibling and I will have to go back to work so we can afford the child support while the ex doesn't work!
Live isn't fair and the law isn't fair to fathers

I agree that sometimes an ex can make life difficult, but at the end of the day he has to maintain that child regardless - he is the father. He can at least hold his head up high and know that he is facing his responsibilities, and nobody can critisize him for that.

thesaint

mummyteare wrote:

Hi,
I know how frustrating it can be paying an ex. My husband pays $400 a month for a child we don't get to see. We've been to court and have a contact order which has been broken several times by the mum, to go back would cost money we don't have, for her to keep braking any orders given also she questions the child till she crys, after every visit and then phones to shout at my husband over sillying things(like using a public loo). We haven't seen his child since october 2005. We have a daughter who has never met her sibling and I will have to go back to work so we can afford the child support while the ex doesn't work!
Live isn't fair and the law isn't fair to fathers

Your husband can go to court on his own behalf, there is no need to pay a solicitor.

He can do some reading up about the process on the internet.

It is difficult, but if the option is to do nothing, what has he to lose?
The reason that people get away with this behaviour is because too many do nothing.