How much child support?

timberflake

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend.

He had a child with someone about 4 years ago whilst he was married. The girl he had the child with then decided to move 200 mils away whilst he stayed with his wife.

He goes up to see the child every other weekend, and currently pays an agreed sum each month + additonal when he see's the child (he may take her some clothes up for example).

Now the mother has started making noises about going to the CSA as she's just had her housing benefit cut and wants the father to pay the difference.

So, can my friend find out how much he would be liable to pay if the mother went through the CSA? He believes he's paying a fair sum at the minute, but is curious to know for sure.

Also, if he does decide to up his monthly payments, how can he ensure that it's spent entirely on the child and not on the mother?

FatVonD

I believe it's 15% of net pay for 1 child but you may be better posting on the benefits board.

As for making sure it's spent on the child, as long as the child is well provided for it all goes into the pot surely? Just because the maintenance doesn't directly translate to clothes on its back doesn't mean it hasn't been spent for the benefit of the child, there are other things to consider like providing a roof over their head and heating etc.

timberflake

FatVonD wrote: »

I believe it's 15% of net pay for 1 child but you may be better posting on the benefits board.

As for making sure it's spent on the child, as long as the child is well provided for it all goes into the pot surely? Just because the maintenance doesn't directly translate to clothes on its back doesn't mean it hasn't been spent for the benefit of the child, there are other things to consider like providing a roof over their head and heating etc.

I totally agree, father's contribution should pay 50% of gas, electric, water etc.

However, it shouldn't go to making up the difference on her housing benefit imo. Her rent is £750 a month which was covered entirely by housing benefit. This has now been reduced. She currently lives in a 3 bed new build house, so surely if she can't cover the difference between the HB and rent she should look at moving and not expect the father to pay the difference as she doesn't NEED a 3 bed new build house.

MrsManda

There's a child maintenance calculator on the CSA website which will give him an indication of what he'd be expected to pay.

http://www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/calculator.asp

Sparklebabey

It's 15% of his net income which will be due (less any overnight stays but reading between the lines, there aren't any).

And the contribution cannot be policed by the father (thankfully). Child support payments take many forms which can include clothing, food, toys and books etc but the contribution is also for the boring things like gas and electric and water.

If the child support payment is used to make the shortfall up for the HB then I can't really see an issue - does your friend want his child living on the streets or in a scummy flat?

Unless NRP's want 2 sets of bills and 2 sets of food shopping to be done (Mother and child...yeah, ridiculous right?) then unless the child is is a neglect situation (of which I would hope the Father would step in, physically), once the payment is made to the Mother, it's not really for the Father to dictate what it can and cannot be used for.

shegirl

timberflake wrote: »

I totally agree, father's contribution should pay 50% of gas, electric, water etc.

However, it shouldn't go to making up the difference on her housing benefit imo. Her rent is £750 a month which was covered entirely by housing benefit. This has now been reduced. She currently lives in a 3 bed new build house, so surely if she can't cover the difference between the HB and rent she should look at moving and not expect the father to pay the difference as she doesn't NEED a 3 bed new build house.

She shouldn't have to uproot her child unless necessary either.It's not something anyone wants to do.If the maintenance helps with the rent shortfall I see no problem with it -it puts a roof over her childs head.

Is it private,council or housing association? I thought LHA (the private version of housing benefit) only paid for the amount of rooms needed,unless the house costs less or the same as a 2 bed house,in which case it may not make much difference her moving.

BitterAndTwisted

What's fair is whatever they both agree he should pay if the CSA aren't involved. CSA calculate 15% for the first child, I believe. In some circumstances that could be naff-all. It does seem unfair to have one parent living the life of Riley in married comfort and the other dependent on benefits, so that a slight cut in HB has a profound impact on the weekly budget.

And no, the parent who has custody of the child is the decision-maker about where money is spent and precisely on what. If he wants control perhaps he should have full-time custody and see how he likes it?

lilymay1

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

And no, the parent who has custody of the child is the decision-maker about where money is spent and precisely on what. If he wants control perhaps he should have full-time custody and see how he likes it?

What an unnecessarily nasty post, particularly as you know nothing about the specifics of the situation. I can see why your alias is 'Bitter and Twisted'.

timberflake

The main issue seems to be that my friends ex seems to forget that the money he provides is "Child Support" and not "Ex Support".

She seems to think that he should pay the difference between her rent and housing benefit, which he might be willing to do if she wasn't living in a 3 bed new build costing £750 pcm. She could just as easily find a nice 2 bed house for £50-£100 less a month.

She also thinks it's his responsibility to feed her as well as the child.

Where do you draw the line, if the housing benefit was cut by £200, would people still expect the father to pay £200 extra a month so they wouldn't have to move.

All he wants to do is make sure he pays the correct amount to ensure his daughter is looked after. This includes paying 50% of utilities, food, clothing, childcare, etc, but not making sure she's fed and kept in the lifetyle to which she has become acustom.

FatVonD

timberflake wrote: »

All he wants to do is make sure he pays the correct amount to ensure his daughter is looked after. This includes paying 50% of utilities, food, clothing, childcare, etc, but not making sure she's fed and kept in the lifetyle to which she has become acustom.

If you use that argument then that should also extend to 50% of the rent then, surely?

I would say he should pay her whatever CSA decide and let the mother decide where it's best spent. Your friend does seem a little hung up on it being a new build though IMO, what does it matter, surely he wishes the best for his child?

RAS

Please will you listen?

He needs to pay 15% of his net income; no more.

It is the responsibility of the mother to decide how she spends that and the other income she has and her responsibility to budget.

He is not required to pay any more than the 15%. Nor is he required to pay for clothes etc.

So is the money he currently pays more or less than CSA?