Can csa debts from both NRPs be linked

anicemaiden

Hi

My husband has just been through the mill with the CSA. We went to court today only to have an order placed on our home (jointly owned) where my two children live as well. (From my first marriage) My husband has been very ill of late and has had great difficulty in making sense of all of the mess that has arisen. He has never once shirked his parental responsibility, financiall or otherwise.

My ex husband owes nearly twice as much as my husband. I rang the CSA to find out what was going on with the mess that my husband has found himself in (now us) and why the two debts cannot be linked so that one could possibly offset the other.

I had such a rude and unhelpful discussion with the debt management department. It just seems so unfair that the CSA are persuing my husband for non payment (due to illness) yet are willing to let my ex husband owe nearly twice as much! This is surely not right?

I have heard somewhere that it is my decision/choice/right to have the debts linked. Also, why is it the CSA can place an order on my home and cause so much distress? It is quite possible that my husband will become ill again and I truly cannot cope with that.

Is there anything that we can do? I want to start proceedings to take the CSA to court for the non payment of MY debt.
How do I go about it? Is there anything that will give me some more ammunition that I alreaday have?

Thanks from a newbie

kelloggs36

The cases cannot be linked - the two cases are completely separate - your ex should be paying for his children, and your current partner must pay for his children. You can't offset one against the other because of this.

However, I would suggest that you go to your MP in respect of chasing enforcement action against your ex. How much does he owe you? Does HE own a property over which they can get a charge? Is he Self-Employed?

You say that your husband has never shirked his financial responsibility - so has he been paying his ex directly in respect of maintenance? If so he needs to get a written agreement from her of the amount he has paid to her for this and the CSA will offset this against any arrears owed. TBH if he has contributed by buying the children things then he needs to stop - his legal responsibility is to pay via the CSA and nothing more. THE PWC should be getting this money to help bring up the children and if he is paying CSA then she will be getting what she is entitled to (whether directly if she works, or via her benefits as she would get a bit extra which she is not getting if he is not making any payments.) In the CSA's eyes, your husband is not paying - that is all they look at and all they can look at because maintenance is a legal liability. Any changes which could affect his liability should be notified by him and if he does not do that then there is nothing the CSA can do to change it until he informs them. They have put a charge on the property for non-payment - has he made ANY effort to pay them whatsoever? Has he tried to negotiate a monthly payment to pay off the arrears? If he is no longer working then the CSA can't do anything unless there is evidence of this - such as a benefit claim or evidence from his employer that he isn't working - it is up to your husband to keep the cSA informed of his circumstances.

It isn't too late. If he can negotiate a monthly payment, then it will prevent them taking the next step of enforcing the sale - which they are doing more of now. Provided that he is paying off the arrears then the judge is highly unlikely to agree to it.

You need to firstly speak to the HEO on Enforcement to discuss what options there are to chase YOUR ex. Has the case actually been referred to them?

anicemaiden

Thank you for your speedy reply and for the advice you have given.

I can't tell you how this is being dealt with at the CSA's end for my husband.
I really must get a rocket up his proverbial and get him to sort something.

We are just off to the solicitor now so I will take your reply with me and chat to hubby on the way.

I will let you know more when we return.
Thank you once again. You have been very helpful.

kelloggs36

No problem - I hope I didn't cause any offence! I have an ex who owes 26k to me via the CSA and he has 3 charges over his property. He also has a committal hearing pending, which has been adjourned for him to remortgage his house to pay it all off - if he does that then he will be a free man and his house will be safe, but if he doesn't then he will go to prison and the CSA will continue action in respect of enforcing the sale of his property. You clearly do not want to be in the same position - so I urge you to sort something out asap. Just make sure that the assessment is correct and get it updates if your circumstances change which means that you can no longer afford to keep up the repayments. Good luck.

space_rider

A friend of mines sister`s ex husband refused to pay CSA assessment and they put a charge on his house. He was not phased by that as he had no intention of selling his house. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, his 2nd marriage broke down and his wife insisted that the house be sold so she could buy a house of his own. My friends niece had a nice little nest egg when the property was sold.

kelloggs36

Yes that does happen. also, the CSA are now getting tougher on people and are pushing for Orders for Sale, so for those who (as described above by Spacerider) have no intentions of selling may find that they have no choice in the matter as it will be forced upon them by the Courts, instigated by the CSA. It is a very lengthy process with many checks in the way, but my case is half way thorough, although I hope that it doesn't get that far as he is under a court order to get a remortgage on the property, which will clear his debt to me, thus saving his home. But if he fails to do that, he will face that huge risk of losing his home - all because he hates me so much he would put himself and his new family at risk. Very, very sad.