CSA rule you do not need child benefit to claim!

Dadoftwo_2

The CSA tribunal have ruled that my ex wife does not need to be claiming child benefit or even qualify to claim it. My ex wife cannot claim child benefit because my daughter claims income support and child benefit and tax credits herself for my granddaughter. My daughter is a parent herself and at college and 18 years old. But the ruling was based on the fact that the mother cannot claim child benefit and does not as it has ceased to be available. The judge stated that this it does not say anything in the child support act relating to a young person receiving income support or child benefit. So for all you people out there who don't claim the child benefit you can also make a legal claim for maintenance! The judge stated that it does not say anywhere in the child support act 1991 or 1992 that child benefit has to be in receipt to have a qualifying child and it does not say that the qualifying child is not a child for the purposes of claiming benefits. So you don't need to have the child benefit and can claim maintenance on top... I thought this would be really useful to all the people who are not taking advantage of this! The sad part about it is my daughter claimed benefits as her mum was throwing her out and she takes her own daughters benefits in rent! I have paid over £40,000 in maintenance and never ever missed a payment. I does seem strange that child maintenance is paid, when my 18 year old daughter claims benefits as an adult and still be a qualifying child for the purposes of child support? There is also a 50/50 residence order and I'm the only one financially supporting my daughter. I did think that a child was someone under the age of 16 and a young person is not called a child? If my daughter is still a child in her care, why does she not claim the child benefit? Would this not effect my daughter claiming as a parent with care herself for her own child? How can you be a child and a parent who claims benefits to support a low income and day to day living costs? what does anyone else think?

DUTR

I'm confused by your reply, it could be me, but it reads as if anybody can claim at anytime

Lovetoread

I'm quite confused too.

Are you saying that because your daughter is a mother herself and claiming benefits as an adult would that you don't see why you should pay towards her upkeep, especially as your ex earns £70k? I think if your daughter is under 16 then she can't claim benefits so it would have to be her mother who claims them, so I'm guessing she's older than 16. But technically she IS still a child, although I understand what you're saying, kind of.

What confuses me little more is you say your son stays with you. Do you not claim CSA from your ex? If she's earning £70k then at a rough guess you'd be getting around £600/month. Seeing as you earn less than your ex, your CSA payments to her would be a lot less than her payments to you, so you're still getting money towards the upkeep of your son, no?

nannytone_2

i cant see that someone claiming benefit in their own right ( the daughter) would still be under a maintenance order.
the state is financially supporting the daughter, not her mother, and as such the mother would have no claim against the father

Dadoftwo_2

Thank you for your replies, sorry for the long explanation. My daughter started claiming benefits in her own right at 16, she is now 18. It was my understanding that the state is supporting my daughter, as she was helped by social services, when my ex wife told my daughter to move out. Child benefit stopped for my daughter and my daughter claims child benefit for her own daughter, child tax credits, care to learn and income support. The CSA did a check for the courts and confirmed it. But I thought there was no legal claim by the mother, the awful part is the maintenance I am paying is not going towards supporting my daughter, as she is making my daughter pay her rent and she complains on Facebook about not having any money due to paying rent to her mother. Surely both parents are financially responsible for a child and not take their benefit money. My ex wife would not get the benefits herself if she claimed child benefit for my daughter. The CSA have awarded costs and compensation to my ex wife as it was her appeal to get more money in the first place, she did not believe I was earning less than her and the CSA have checked everything out. We used to have an informal agreement and I used to pay her more money, I am not opposed to paying any money to my daughter, it is just that my ex wife has had four holidays so far and has left my daughter at home.

Dadoftwo_2

nannytone wrote: »

i cant see that someone claiming benefit in their own right ( the daughter) would still be under a maintenance order.
the state is financially supporting the daughter, not her mother, and as such the mother would have no claim against the father

To summarise the CSA have allowed a case to be opened in respect of my daughter who happens to be claiming income support, child tax credits, care to learn and child benefit for her own daughter.

DUTR

Dadoftwo wrote: »

To summarise the CSA have allowed a case to be opened in respect of my daughter who happens to be claiming income support, child tax credits, care to learn and child benefit for her own daughter.

So assuming no arrears, when will your liabilty cease?

Dadoftwo_2

Well this has been going on for two years! We don't know when it will end as my daughter is studying law at college, she is 18 years old now, if she continues approved education it could be up to 20 years old. If the CSA have ruled she is a child under parental care then a child cannot claim income support unless they estrange themselves to make an income support claim. Surely income support is means tested, I know my ex wife earns too much to get it and should not be taking it from my daughter, it is not housing benefit and my daughter does not pay council tax as she is in full time education. What I was wondering is, if I am the only parent who has proof of financially supporting my daughter, could I challenge the child benefit to claim it and give it to my daughter along with the maintenance???

DUTR

Dadoftwo wrote: »

Well this has been going on for two years! We don't know when it will end as my daughter is studying law at college, she is 18 years old now, if she continues approved education it could be up to 20 years old. If the CSA have ruled she is a child under parental care then a child cannot claim income support unless they estrange themselves to make an income support claim. Surely income support is means tested, I know my ex wife earns too much to get it and should not be taking it from my daughter, it is not housing benefit and my daughter does not pay council tax as she is in full time education. What I was wondering is, if I am the only parent who has proof of financially supporting my daughter, could I challenge the child benefit to claim it and give it to my daughter along with the maintenance???

I don't know the answer to your question, I will publicly post what puts me off the content.... The headline was CSA rule.... the CSA don't make the rules, however more so it's the harbouring on about what the ex maybe earning or not,
for me if my daughter's Mum won the lotto jackpot, I wouldn't expect the csa case to cease prematurely.
Perhaps your grandhcild has your family name and there maybe some clerical error on the case which is causing your liability to continue beyond the goverment set guidelines.
There is a process to appeal and you can also raise your complex case with your local MP.
However as a bloke to bloke.... don't sensationalise events and keep the battle of the ex's out of the text (as it makes it appear to be the real reason for posting) I'm surprised the daughter maybe follwing the same 'broken' family of which she came from especially at an early age
Good luck with the case though, something doesn't seem quite right about the series of events.

Dadoftwo_2

Just a clarification here. This was a CSA tribunal ruling. Essentially the judge ignored the Income Support because it is not mentioned in the Child Support act, even though under legislation covering Income Support, anyone claiming Income Support is no longer the financial responsibility of anyone.

In addition the Judge rejected our claim that my ex wife could not be classed as a PWC because she does not qualify for Child Benefit. The judge's response was that my ex wife couldn't claim the Child Benefit - which was exactly our point!

It's as though various bits of legislation, Child Support, Child Benefit etc have been designed to almost fit together like a jig-saw puzzle, but the CSA tribunal would only take into account the Child Support legislation. This is what is confusing. After all surely the law is the law and it should be looked at in its entirety, not cherry picked for convenience.

HoneyNutLoop

The decision the Tribunal have made adheres to the law as it currently stands, as section 55 of the Child Support Act 1991 was amended a number of years ago to simplify the definition of a child. Although the law did used to exclude people receiving Income Support as being considered children for support purposes, it no longer does.

I would also reiterate DUTR's point - this is not a CSA rule in the sense that they have decided these things. This is the law as it currently stands and CSA workers must adhere to the law. In your case though, this isn't even a CSA decision. It is the decision of a judge in HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Your only recourse would be to appeal to the Upper Tribunal on a point of law, but the correct law has been applied in the point you have raised here.

While you could complain to your MP, it won't change the outcome in your case, based on how you describe things. Out of curiosity, is your ex paying for your son? And no, you can't claim child benefit for your daughter, not least because you say they've already decided your daughter doesn't qualify for child benefit.