Liability Order Help

shoe*diva79

costcutterkaz wrote: »

We're not entirely sure it's owed, as his son was being paid for his work in the apprenticeship. Also they want the money in a lump sum. And He hasn't any money.
But will definitely ask for a copy of his file.

Well if unsure that its owed then a copy of the file and your husband needs to make sure he attends court. Some (not all) apprenticeships still attract child benefit in which case child maintenance is due. Did your husband receive a letter closing his case?

jjj1980

HappyMJ wrote: »

If he's got no money, no assets and a low income how about a debt relief order which will write off all his debts. They can't do much against someone who has nothing so I'd look at sorting it out earlier rather than later.

A Debt Relief Order does not cover CSA/CMS arrears.

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/37%20EW%20Debt%20relief%20orders%20(DROs)/Page-03.aspx#

shoe*diva79

@costcutterkaz - as JJJ mentions, debts for child support never go away. Ever. If its proven that your husband owes this debt then he will have to pay it.

The best thing for your husband to do, if its a proven debt, is get a job thats actually paying him so he can get the debt paid off. The CSA and associated departments have quite a lot of power, they can take money from bank accounts and all sorts so its really in his best interests to get it sorted out. To get to liability stage he must have received letters prior and his case file should hold these. I know you said he hadn't, but are you absolutely sure he hadn't but was burying his head in the sand.

corf999

costcutterkaz wrote: »

We're not entirely sure it's owed, as his son was being paid for his work in the apprenticeship. Also they want the money in a lump sum. And He hasn't any money.
But will definitely ask for a copy of his file.

My gut tells me this will be an approved apprenticeship by the local authority - with the mother still able to claim child benefit and the father still liable for child maintenance.

13Kent

We were paying for more than a year for a child that was doing an apprenticeship and was being paid a wage for that. It counts as education if they are doing a college course as part of that apprenticeship, and if child benefit is still being paid then CSA maintenance payments still apply.

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-16-19

iluvfreebies

basically all a liability order is for is to make the debt a legal debt and allow further collection methods to be used the csa if needed.

1st thing you need to do is to determine that the case has been closed from the correct date? call the agency and ask them to check that child benefit was in payment up to the closure date.

if it was then the arrears will remain due and its time to ask to clear these over a period of time.
if you cannot clear the arrears in a lump sum it wont be a problem to arrange a payment plan. (having a list of your outgoings will help)
you mention you receive tex credits - if the case was still open then wtc can be used as an element of income to work out the regular weekly liability. for arrears collection no money can be deducted from your tax credits payments.
communication is key to having this sorted out as quickly as possible.