Maintainence payment probs for ex

kelloggs36

YES, I feel that this is not a CSA query at all.

kelloggs36

He must have been paying under a Court order then had a CSA assessment which overruled this. It would be useful to know what period the letter says the arrears cover?

wotsundermykilt

ok folks, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my story & reply.
I will briefly outline what i did all them years ago & then write down what the actual letter i recieved from the csa says, just so you all know.
I left my wife in 1986/7. Yes it was prior to csa.I agreed to pay her directly but dhs were not happy about it.I eventually moved away from where i lived & never had a job. Upon getting a new job i never restarted the payments to my ex for my 2 children (I was young & stupid but no excuse i know) Anyway eventually the csa took over the case & asked for money arrears for my 2 children + my wife(ex) I said I was not paying money to my ex but they were having none of it.I refused to pay from then on because I was not giving her anything. (which meant the kids were getting nothing either) Eventually i got my wages arrested (boy was that hard, but to a certain degree my own fault,you cannot beat those who do not listen) Around 1997/98 I got a cheque for over payments which meant i had stopped paying for the kids. From here on it gets a bit hazy for me because my new wife took care of the finances.The csa say i was paying money to them until late 2001 when i split from my second wife but i cannot remember paying anything & neither can my ex number 2 remember much although she said we were paying something straight from my wages again & it might have been to them. It beats me how i cannot remember what happened, but when you split from a partner, things tend to go pearshaped in my world & I block things out instead of dealing with them. Anyway i feel for all the people who are owed money & I can admit to being a pratt myself but csa have a lot to answer for when it comes to absent fathers.They don't seem to take anything into consideration but you all know that already.If i owe them money, then it has to be paid, but money for an ex wife(not the children) seems beyond belief.There are no court orders demanding that i pay her money that i know of.And 20 years down the line they chase me when folk are desperate for their cases to be sorted so they can look after their children now. My 2 kids are 27 & 24 next month.Even if i owed the money,it would not go to my ex anyway, or thats my assumption.
Ok the exact contents of the letter are below without the bit about threatening a dedustions order & legal action in the sheriff court.

Dear Mr H.
Our records show that you owe £907.62 in outstanding child maintenance payments for Mrs L.M.
If you cannot pay this amount in full you should contact us to discuss the possibility of paying by instalments.

The way i have read it is that i owe money for my ex wife Mrs L.M. & also that she is a child, not my ex wife. Geez i am confused & on the phone they don't seem interested in anything but getting money.
Mike

wotsundermykilt

Forgot to mention that the letter from csa does not mention any of my childrens names & has no dates for when the arrears are from. The only name is my ex's.

kelloggs36

The letter means that you owe the money to your ex in respect of the maintenance for the children - it isn't maintenance for her! It is owed to either the PWC or the Secretary of State if the PWC is on benefits. You have just read the letter wrong.

wotsundermykilt

Thanks for that kellogs. I think i will follow the advice of an earlier post and ask for the data protection details & see what happens from there because i cannot understand why they would give me a cheque for over payment & then all these years later say i am in arrears.

kelloggs36

I can assure you 100% that this money is in respect of the children - the CSA have never ever had anything to do with maintenance for ex partners.

You need to request an account breakdown which will show how the arrears were accrued.

Whilst I accept that the CSA have made many mistakes in the past (and indeed currently) there are fundamental things that you cannot argue about and win. The formula is set in legislation so if the CSA have refused to take things into account it is because the law prevents them from doing so. Also, if there is an application made by the Parent with Care then it must be dealt with - they must ignore any private agreements made between exes, they have no weight in law so either is free to apply to the CSA at any time to have their child maintenance assessed and collected by them. Court orders were also overridden in most circumstances too.

kelloggs36

Oh, and the money is due to your ex directly so she will get it when you pay it, she can do what she likes with it quite frankly. It is for a period where she has maintained the children herself and has paid the full costs out of her money, so she can do what she wants with it.

Mr_Green_Genes

kelloggs36 wrote: »

The formula is set in legislation so if the CSA have refused to take things into account it is because the law prevents them from doing so.

Umm ... it could also be because they don't understand the law - many people have fought and won on these grounds you know!!

wotsundermykilt

Thanks once again kelloggs.I understand what your saying now.Looks like i am just going to have to pay it if that is the case, even though they gave me a cheque back all those years ago for over payment. I will still request all the information though because it would be good to see how they work out whats due & whats not. They get off with murder, because if i gave someone money back as a business & then years later decide that I wanted more money off them because of my ineptness, then the other person would probably tell me where to sling my hook.Where does it end? If I pay up, who's to say they won't come back in another 20 years & say, I am sorry but we made another error, you still owe us money. Just a thought, but how long do they keep records for i wonder?
Mike