When does Child Maintenance stop?

welshcakes

As an extension of this thread, does 'the panel' think that the 'child' applying for a Maintenace Order should be quoting a specific amount or perhaps seek maintenance along the lines of the CSA formula used...or would it be a case of her/him presenting living costs for a year as a Uni student and leaving it to the discretion of the judge to suggest a figure?

Mr_Green_Genes

I think that the application would need to show that there was a need for a certain amount - speaking from experience, actual expenses are difficult to quantify in advance. Add together the tuition fees, rent, a sum for books/equipment, living expenses etc, deduct any student loan from the total and that should produce the answer.

I think that this would be better than quoting the CSA maintenance figure, which is ,after all, based (however loosely!!) on the NRP's earnings, and not on the student's needs.

Unfortunately, there seems to be so little case law that this is the best I can suggest.

kelloggs36

Yes, it may be down to the Court to determine what can be afforded. My daughter gets a loan for her fees, plus her loan for living expenses and partial grant which only adds up to the rent costs and nothing to live on. As she is relocating she needs a job which she can't get until she gets there and there is no guarantee that she will get one, so she does need something to help her whilst she is there. I suspect that my ex will say that as he has just paid (not actually yet but should have done very soon) a lump sum for ARREARS of maintenance, then as I have a lump sum I should maintain her with that money. Yes, and I shall, however that money is for a PAST period of time - the last 7 years, and this is for the future which effectively would let him off!!!

Donedoingdebt

welshcakes wrote: »

As an extension of this thread, does 'the panel' think that the 'child' applying for a Maintenace Order should be quoting a specific amount or perhaps seek maintenance along the lines of the CSA formula used...or would it be a case of her/him presenting living costs for a year as a Uni student and leaving it to the discretion of the judge to suggest a figure?

Not exactly the same circumstances, but when my Wife went to the county court for maintenance for her 13 year old she did not quote a specific amount required. Instead, the bench looked at both his (ex husband)& her income/outgoings, including the cost of her son & set a figure themselves which they felt was realistic. There seemed to be far more flexibility this way than sticking rigidly to a given formula such as the CSA.
It's my guess that they would still adopt this approach in relation to the student's expenses etc when they reached over 17 although of course you should get this checked out by someone who knows for definite.

lindens

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Coming back to your query. He's unlikely to be starting an HNC at 16 (although he may well go on to do so) as this is a level 4 course, roughly equivalent to the first year of a degree. This counts as Higher Education. I don't know much about child support but you may need to have the educational bit straight. What level BTEC is he studying at the moment?

He's done the first year of a 2 year course. Not sure what level, it's higher than an NVQ.

jo021970_2

My step son is 16 and left school in June. He has got himself an apprenticeship with our Council, on day release for college, earning £80 per week. Does my partner still have to pay maintenance?

pr66

Hi all, apologies if this is answered elsewhere but new to this and sometimes difficult to apply others situation exactly to your own!

Having a decent relationship with my ex wife, our arrangement is outside of the CSA and we have worked well over the years to support our children. Not wanting to upset this relationship I would like to understand the facts / my position before discussing this with her.

My children are 23 and 20 [in a couple of weeks]. My question relates to the 20 year old as the older child is in full time employment and living away from the mother.

The 20yo lives at home, works part time and the educational history is as follows:-

after finishing secondary school went onto college and that ended june/july 2008 (aged 18 at that point in time).

has taken a year 'out' of education but has been accepted on a uni course starting mid/late september this year [before which will have had 20th birthday].

My question is do I still need to pay anything for the 20yo?

shell_542

If you were paying through the CSA, it would have stopped when the youngest left college. The uni course, unless a non-advanced course, is not counted as education when paying child support.

Child support normally runs along side Child benefit, so when CB is being paid, CS will be. Child benefit is only paid up until the age of 20 max. Your ex would have not recieved any since the youngest left college though.

So no, you wont still have to pay anything technically, but then it's up to you whether you want to still contribute someway, maybe directly to the 20 year old rather than through their mother.

Hope that makes sense.

pr66

thanks for the response and that makes alot of sense and backs up what I thought.

nice to have confirmation, thanks again

shell_542

The CSA have it on their website if you want something to reference to :


Child

For child maintenance purposes, a child is anyone under 16 or someone between 16 and 19 who:

• is not, nor has ever been, married or in a civil partnership, and
• is in full-time non-advanced education.

Also, anyone aged 16 or 17 who is not in education, is not working and does not receive employment-related benefits is defined as a child for child maintenance purposes.


http://www.csa.gov.uk/en/info/glossary.asp#jump-c