CSA1 case closing - Moving to new scheme

justontime

My husband had a letter last week to say that his CSA1 case will close in March. His daughter is 15 so he still has to pay for her for another 4 or 5 years and he wants to get things organised so that there is not a gap in payments. Most of all he doesn't want to provoke arguments with his ex (there have been more than enough of those in the past).

The advice given is that he should try to negotiate with his ex himself. He is willing to do so, but she has moved and remarried so he does not have her last name or her address. He is in contact with his daughter but he is not going to involve her in any way, its not fair on her. The advice leaflets suggest using an address finder service or various other options. Has anyone else faced this problem?

I'm not sure if he can open a new case as a NRP, it would be worth paying the fee just to get it sorted out, but he probably wouldn't have enough information to do it. I would be interested to hear how others have coped with this.

PreludeForTimeFeelers

justontime wrote: »

My husband had a letter last week to say that his CSA1 case will close in March. His daughter is 15 so he still has to pay for her for another 4 or 5 years and he wants to get things organised so that there is not a gap in payments. Most of all he doesn't want to provoke arguments with his ex (there have been more than enough of those in the past).

The advice given is that he should try to negotiate with his ex himself. He is willing to do so, but she has moved and remarried so he does not have her last name or her address. He is in contact with his daughter but he is not going to involve her in any way, its not fair on her. The advice leaflets suggest using an address finder service or various other options. Has anyone else faced this problem?

I'm not sure if he can open a new case as a NRP, it would be worth paying the fee just to get it sorted out, but he probably wouldn't have enough information to do it. I would be interested to hear how others have coped with this.

He will be eligible to apply, and pay the £20 fee himself, so long as he gives enough information about his ex (name at the time, name of the child in the case, rough area where she might live, date of birth if possible) then the CSA should be able to progress the case (mainly because they'll already have all of the other information that he doesn't currently have).
As he's received this letter about the case closing, so will his ex - there's a letter that the CSA can send out to your other half if he wants to get in touch with his ex - it's basically a form that he'll receive, where he can put his contact details in, and they'll send that on to the other party. Of course, there's no guarantee that she'll get in touch with him, but it's being proactive at least. I'm not too sure why these closure letters don't mention that, as I would have thought that would have been the easier thing to promote.
I'd advise him to give them a call and say that he's looking to get in touch to make a family-based arrangement, but no longer has contact details, and would like his own details passed on. That should start the ball rolling.

FBaby

She is 15 yo and he feels he can't even ask his daughter for his mum new name and address? Even if he explains that it is because he wants to sort out a new arrangement to continue to pay maintenance in the easiest possible way? He has regular contact but not even his ex mobile number in case of an emergency?

Very odd to me!

jacklink

more shame on the mother for not letting her childs father know where his child lives, by law if he is no danger he has a right to know were his child lives and a solicitor can and will get this information for him through child benefit records. tell him to stop being soft and ask his kid

justontime

FBaby wrote: »

She is 15 yo and he feels he can't even ask his daughter for his mum new name and address? Even if he explains that it is because he wants to sort out a new arrangement to continue to pay maintenance in the easiest possible way? He has regular contact but not even his ex mobile number in case of an emergency?

Very odd to me!

Like many others here he has been through hell with both CSA and difficulties with a hostile ex. Yes there is a back story and not a very nice one, but we are where we are and it will serve no purpose to dig up the past and be critical of the child's mother. He is simply doing his best (as he always has) to love and support his daughter. He will not involve the daughter because it is not fair on her (and it would antagonise the mother). He will do as Prelude For Time Feelers suggested and ask for help to contact the mother.