Father never paid child support, now found him after 36 years!

Mattonlaptop

shoe*diva79 wrote: »

From what you have just said, it seems your mother applied to the court for child maintenance, not through the CSA.

You really need to speak to your mother and get cold hard facts I am afraid as to who she applied to and when. Without knowing for sure means we cannot really advise on the best way to go.

Thank you, yes now you say it that could be the case, because I am sure it was pre 1993. Obviously it is a very difficult thing to talk with her about, so I am just trying to get an idea of what is possible.

The thing is if I have the knowledge of what can be done, whether it was CSA or maintenance claim, I maybe able to use it to gain a private agreement from him.

Armorica

Is it child support? Or a divorce settlement for your mother?

Mattonlaptop

Armorica wrote: »

Is it child support? Or a divorce settlement for your mother?

He ran away, abandoned us when I was born. They never actually divorced, otherwise someone somewhere would have been able to contact him as he would have submitted papers etc. That's the point, he has effectively been hiding overseas for 30 + years.

He has never re-married, and I guess that's the reason why, despite having a partner all this time.

shoe*diva79

You need to speak to your mum and see how she feels. Ultimately its up to her but it sounds like its a court issue so you would need to take legal advice.

Mattonlaptop

shoe*diva79 wrote: »

You need to speak to your mum and see how she feels. Ultimately its up to her but it sounds like its a court issue so you would need to take legal advice.

Yes, I am planning on discussing it with her this week. I think you could be right on it being a court issue and not CSA, as the more I think about it the more I think it was pre 1993, as I was 16 in 1994.

Do you know if legal aid would cover such things?

duchy

I wonder what the situation would be -if she divorced him now......if a financial settlement could be a part of the divorce ?

Just a thought that it might give your Mum some redress and you a feeling that justice had been done .

Just approaching it from another angle but really a solicitor specilizing in family law would be worth at the least a consultation.

Perhaps contacting the court your Mum took you to and getting details of what happened with the case first might be helpful too. I'd do this before getting the free half hour consultation)

Legal aid won't cover it.

Mattonlaptop

duchy wrote: »

I wonder what the situation would be -if she divorced him now......if a financial settlement could be a part of the divorce ?

Just a thought that it might give your Mum some redress and you a feeling that justice had been done .

Just approaching it from another angle but really a solicitor specilizing in family law would be worth at the least a consultation.

Perhaps contacting the court your Mum took you to and getting details of what happened with the case first might be helpful too.

Legal aid won't cover it.

Hello Duchy, Thanks for the reply.

I think you are right, the court could well be a good start. It was Solihull Magistrates.

I want to be armed with as much facts as possible before approaching my Mother and telling her what she can and can't do.

The conversations I have had with my Father so far have been more than amicable, I have not gone in to all this with him, but I think he must at least expect at some stage I am going to raise the questions. He is still working now, runs his own business.

quidsy

Are they still married? Your mum could possibly apply for divorce & retrospective settlement if they are.

Mattonlaptop

quidsy wrote: »

Are they still married? Your mum could possibly apply for divorce & retrospective settlement if they are.

My understanding is yes they are, they never got divorced because he ran away, and if he had contacted her to get divorced then the courts would have his details through the solicitor and we probably would not have had this situation.

He also never married his current partner of 30 years, and on his facebook posts (that is how I found him) he actually says he is technically still a bachelor, so he has been basically living a lie.

shoe*diva79

You wont be able to get legal aid for this type of case so you are best off getting your free half hour with a lawyer and seeing if they think you (or your mother) could have a case