Maintenance payments after 18 years old

sharnad

Stop once she reaches 18

Mupette

I'm a mother with 18 year old, as i have recently received a letter from csa with change of payments,
note to self a drop from £70 to £36.50 pm

I assumed from the last call i had with them when i told them i was getting married last year that it would be up until easter(ish) son will be 19 in Feb 2014, and in his final year at 6th form full time.

through CSA legally the ex has to pay them to pay me (then to son)
without csa or a court order, i dont think anyone can tell you when you should legally stop,

Jobseeeker

If she goes to Uni, that will be it. But if she lives with her mum and goes into higher education eg college you will still have to pay CSA until she is 20.

mgdavid

A lot of 'opinions' on here, it seems easier to me for you to read the official rules,
https://www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop

in summary once A levels are finished you are free to stop paying. If either mother or daughter have a problem with that, they can contact you and discuss it - although it would seem unlikely.

shegirl

Silver-Freddy wrote: »

Just found this on a child agency website,hope it helps.


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You must pay child maintenance until your child reaches the age of 16 or until he or she reaches 19 years if they are studying full-time. However, you can organise or reach an agreement privately to continue paying child maintenance for a longer period.

That's out of date.It's now 20 years old if in education but not if it's uni

sealady

I am in the same situation that my daughter will be 19 next year and get paid maintenance through the CSA.

My daughter is hoping to go to Uni next year, and even though I know her father will stop paying maintenance I have no option but will still have to support her financially.

Even though a child might be going into further education, or reach a certain age until they are able to financially able to support themselves one parent will be left to carry the financial burden.

What ever age a child is they still cost the same amount whether they are 9 or 19 possibly even more at 19.

paulineb_2

mgdavid wrote: »

A lot of 'opinions' on here, it seems easier to me for you to read the official rules,
https://www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop

in summary once A levels are finished you are free to stop paying. If either mother or daughter have a problem with that, they can contact you and discuss it - although it would seem unlikely.

That was the website I quoted from earlier in the thread.

Seanymph

I too found that website.

As she will be leaving A Levels to go to University that is when it will stop - June next year.

Her student grant and loan will be calculated on the money from her mother and stepfather only and your husbands figures will not be used in that calculation.

He could contact her and offer something direct to her if he wanted, but he is not obligated to pay anything.

My daughters both started university this year (2013) - at 18 and 19 so I've just been through the system - not that their father paid any blessed maintenance before so he didn't stop anything - but the child benefit stopped and any payments would have.

But I would encourage your husband to contact his daughter, offer to support her because he's proud of her achievement and to give her a little something direct - even if it's only £50 a month.

Watching them struggle (and in our case without a bean of support from their father) is hard - even £50 a month would make a big difference to his daughter. For one of mine the books alone cost over £300! (and her accomodation this year is over £5,000!).

But he doesn't have to any longer, no.

January20

martinbuckley wrote: »

As its not compulsary to continue in education beyond 18, then maybe you should consider either stopping the payments, or paying them directy into your daughters student bank account, which she must have when she goes to uni. As for the bit between May, when she finishes her A Levels and September when she goes to uni - she isnt in education and why should you pay for that bit?[/QUOTE

The non resident parents pays money to the other parents to help support the child. It doesn't matter whether the child is in education or on holidays between May and September or whatever, the child still has to be supported! Whether a child has a part-time job or not has no bearing on the amount the NRP pays either!

My personal experience is that the NRP, through the CSA, has to pay until the child is out of compulsory education. When the child goes to university, the NRP has no obligation to support said child.

The CSA will not help with contact. That is true, but OP, I had a thought: is there a proof that your OH has made payments to the ex? Does the daughter know that her father is making a financial contribution to her upbringing? Could the mother have lied to the daughter and that would explain the sudden drop in contact? Could the daughter feel disloyal to her mother and step-father for seeing her Dad? These situations can be so stressful for children!

Also, a word of warning about the CSA. They will set an amount for the NRP to pay but will not review it unless either of the parties request it. My ex paid the same amount for 10+ years although his salary doubled in that time. He bragged to our daughter about it, and about the fact that I and the CSA didn't know about it. She was sworn to secrecy. He felt very clever! Anyway, I'm digressing but what I'm saying is that the CSA is not the problem solver some people seem to think it is.

flashnazia

If you are going to continue to pay can you do it directly? It might shame her into being a bit more gracious to her dad and lessens the risk of her mum using it for something else.