Child Support under a court order

thesaint

I do not think there are many people on here who know about the payment of child maintenance through the court system. Although you do not want to go through the C.S.A. it may be more beneficial in the long run if he isn't paying anyway?

Sensemaya

The way to go is through The Children's Act 1989. Once the hmcourts.service website works you can find the necessary forms etc.

The periodical payment option will probably be dismissed, but there is nothing stopping the Judge ordering a lump sum order if applicable.

Before this occurs, however, Form E ( on both sides, I hasten to add ) will be required by the court plus other financial information ( a bit like a divorce). Then it's all down to the discretion of the Judge.

Sorry posting is a bit vague and sketchly.I'm in a hurry.

But it is possible to go down this route, even if our wonderful friends,the CSA, are supposedly dealing with cases.

All fun and games.

MXW

thesaint wrote:

I do not think there are many people on here who know about the payment of child maintenance through the court system. Although you do not want to go through the C.S.A. it may be more beneficial in the long run if he isn't paying anyway?

At the moment he is paying, only because it's under a court order and the order is registered (so they can keep a check that he is making the payments) He wants to go through the csa, that is why he is trying to discharge the order...I know full well....and so does he that if the makes payments via the csa, he will reduce his income until the assessment is made and then will not make any payments, because he knows that it's unlikely they will enforce it.

Thanks for your comments xx

MXW

Sensemaya wrote:

The way to go is through The Children's Act 1989. Once the hmcourts.service website works you can find the necessary forms etc.

The periodical payment option will probably be dismissed, but there is nothing stopping the Judge ordering a lump sum order if applicable.

Before this occurs, however, Form E ( on both sides, I hasten to add ) will be required by the court plus other financial information ( a bit like a divorce). Then it's all down to the discretion of the Judge.

Sorry posting is a bit vague and sketchly.I'm in a hurry.

But it is possible to go down this route, even if our wonderful friends,the CSA, are supposedly dealing with cases.

All fun and games.

Thanks for your help, at the end of the, like you said, It's down to the judge, i'm hoping that they have seen this kind of situation before and realise that he is trying to pull the wool over their eyes. He would have no problem whatsover lying on oath...he has done this numerous times.
Once again, thanks for your help x

Sensemaya

MXW

I have just read the entire thread. It's a shame you are not eligible for legal aid. But I'm sure you can fill in a form that is for people on low incomes. Please phone up your local court to enquire.

Is your MIL on your side?

I presume you will be attending the hearing yourself without legal representation?

I would tell the Judge everything. Produce evidence ( pics ) of his house,car etc and mention how the wages clerk "helps" him. I would certainly mention The Children's Act to the Judge, and as you're unrepresented the Judge might offer a bit of advice.

Do explain how you do not want to engage the services of the CSA and state you will lose your home if he does not continue with the Order.

MXW

Thank you for your advice, I am very grateful. Yes I will be representing myself, i'm afraid I don't have a choice, to be honest I am dreading it, it's on my mind constantly. I have had a look at the child act 1989 and it covers lots of subjects. When you said mention this to the judge, did you mean in the context that if the order was reduced/revoked we would lose our home and this would obviously effect the children? I also though about requesting documentary evidence of the loans he has taken out since the last time we were in court, in that despite knowing he has a responsibility to pay the child support he has taken out more debt for luxury items (I suspect the new bmw will be on finance) I don't know if you have any legal knowlege, but what I am worried about is that if I bring up all these issues to a judge, that it would be seen as I am almost obsessed about bad mouthing him to avoid getting the order changed (i can't think of the right words to explain this). Or is this what happens and is all part and parcel of the hearing??? In all fairness, when he has summoned me to court before, the judges have backed me up 100%. I can't describe to you what he's like, but it's taken over his life, it's all consuming and he will not rest until he has won, I am expecting the unexpected in court! To finish on a lighter note, I was summoned to court on valentines day and my boys made me a card and bought me a bar of fruit and nut out of their own money and presented this to me just before I went to court, my eldest said to me, my dad may have got all the money, but we are a happy family.......and do you know what, when I went to court, my hands were sweating and a was shaking, but just the thought of what my boys did and said made me feel how lucky I was and how much my ex was missing!
Many thanks xxxxx

MissMoneypenny

MXW wrote:

Seems we have moved away from my original question. Does anyone have any idea how the courts work out whether a person has enough disposable income to pay his child support, based on if he was on benefits and his situation as it is now? What do they class as an outgoing? Would the child support be an essential outgoing as opposed to a loan for a car etc? Any advise would be welcomed.

Hi MXW

My sympathies are with you as I too have a court order against my ex (obtained in 1997) that I then registered too. I applied for the registration myself as I was already taking action against my solicitor by then.

I use to phone and ask for advice from the Justices Chief Executive at the Magistrates Court where my Court Order was Registered. He helped me out several times and was much better than the solicitor I had had. Why not look up, or phone up and find out, your JCE name and then phone and ask to speak to him (asking for him by name). I would ask him (or get friendly with his secretary because they will get you the correct information) what information you should be taking to court in view of your suspicions about his income. What another person has said about getting information from Land Registry about what your ex paid from his new house is a good idea too imo. Plus you should ask your ex's solicitor for copies of your ex's bank statements and building society books, which you are allowed before the court date. I'm not sure what part of the law this is under and I'm not sure that I have kept my information on that as it was a long time ago for me now. Shouldn't your ex also be filling in another Statement of Means? You should be able to see that at least a few days before court too, then you could tally it with his statements. Ask the Justices Chief Executive about this when you speak to him.

Is there any chance that you could appeal to your ex mother in law for her help about what her son has done before to his other children, for the sake of her grandsons'?

My solicitor did give me one useful bit of advice and that was that it was better to get a Court Order than to use the CSA, as the courts had more power. As you have found out when you were able to Register your Court Order. Also, both of my children went to University, so the Court Order just continued and all I had to do was provide proof for the courts (letters from their respective universities). The Magistates Court then wrote to my ex and told him that he had to continue to pay.

hobo28

MXW wrote:

To finish on a lighter note, I was summoned to court on valentines day and my boys made me a card and bought me a bar of fruit and nut out of their own money and presented this to me just before I went to court, my eldest said to me, my dad may have got all the money, but we are a happy family......

Aww thats so sweet. Sorry your ex is such a moron. It just goes to show you that money isn't everything and children can be perfectly happy regardless of income.

I really believe you reap what you sow. He's the one missing out. I can't understand anyone who can walk away from their own flesh & blood like that. I just can't.

MissMoneypenny

I just remembered that some solicitors will give people a free half hour. You will need to phone to check which ones do this in your area. You will only get 30 minutes and will get billed if you go over, so have a list with you of questions and stick to the facts (leave emotion out of it if you can as it takes up too much of your free time) to get everything answered. I went this route when my ex was getting later and later with his CO payment, however I found the information the solicitor gave me was wrong. She was more interested ion trying to get me to sign up to their firm. I got the correct information from the office staff at the Family Court, who were not allowed to give legal advice but were able to point me ion the right direction of the leaflet I needed from their display.

It is always worth asking secretaries as they often seem to know more than their bosses.

MissMoneypenny

kelloggs36 wrote:

I would be grateful for more info regarding Court orders and child maintenance. As far as I understand it there are only very minimal circumstances where this can apply such as child being disabled, child being over 19 and being at university for example. As for bog standard maintenance it has to be via the CSA if is is to be legally binding. There are temporary provisions that can be made provided that both parties agree, but that doesn't preclude anybody from going to the CSA at a later date.

Further legal info would be extremely useful as I would dearly love to go to the Courts to get my ex to pay!

My Court Order wasn't temporary and is still running now for one of mine still at university.

My ex went for my house too, even though I owned it before we were married and he had lived in it rent free for two years as he had debts to pay off. So we let him go for it and put maintenance on the agreement too. We had already agreed maintenance based on the CSA formula (which I got form a leaflet from the local post office), so when we went to court we fought over the assets and the childrens' maintenance went through with it and I was award maintenance too until my youngest was 18. I got a lot of help from people I had only just met, to get everything through. There are a lot of really good people out there.

I am not sure if the courts will touch maintenence when the CSA are dealing with it, but why not ask the staff at the family court?