Child maintenance letter received

ZaSa1418

dx052 said:

Hi received a letter from the child maintenance saying that I ex amount in back payments to the mother of my daughter who I have seen in about five years and her mother about 20 years. Anyway the child maintenance letter has appeared from nowhere saying I have to pay this random amount each week as of now (not sure were they got these figures from) on a weekly basis via standing order I haven't spoken to them prior to this and was wondering what I can do if I am not happy about this process.

There is a calculator on gov.uk however if your daughter is 25/26 then this must be arrears. Does it give any information on when it was from? It should tell you the liable dates. 
If a case was open when your daughter was younger and payments were not made then they can chase for arrears. If your ex was on income support then they automatically got the csa involved to get maintenance from the non resident parent. 

CocoM2020

Comms69 said:

Child support cannot be backdated- I’d be questioning if this is legit.

was there ever a CSA case? 

Not sure but do know when the CSA changed to CMS any outstanding claims were kept open if the receiving parent agreed to this. But the letters were sent out a few years ago so this doesn’t make sense. Why now?

AskAsk

CocoM2020 said:

Comms69 said:

Child support cannot be backdated- I’d be questioning if this is legit.

was there ever a CSA case? 

Not sure but do know when the CSA changed to CMS any outstanding claims were kept open if the receiving parent agreed to this. But the letters were sent out a few years ago so this doesn’t make sense. Why now?

this link seems to indicate that arrears can be billed
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance/child-maintenance-2012-scheme/child-maintenance-enforcement/child-maintenance-enforcement-where-to-start/

burlingtonfl6

AskAsk said:

dx052 said:

gizmo111 said:

How old is your daughter?

25/26

this link below states that child maintenance stops at 16 or 25 if they are still in full time education

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/how-much-child-maintenance-should-i-pay#:~:text=You're normally expected to,Highers or

so don't understand why you have pay the maintenance now, unless it is payment to recover the debt.
as far as i am aware, you are responsible for child maintenance whether you see the child or not, which is stated in the article below

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance/child-maintenance-2012-scheme/child-maintenance-eligibility-and-rules/do-you-have-to-pay-child-maintenance-under-the-2012-child-maintenance-scheme/#:~:text=If you don't have,have regular contact with them.&text=If you can't negotiate,for a child arrangements order.

Is that true? You have to pay for a 25 year old grown adult and it's not a choice? 

AskAsk

burlingtonfl6 said:

AskAsk said:

dx052 said:

gizmo111 said:

How old is your daughter?

25/26

this link below states that child maintenance stops at 16 or 25 if they are still in full time education

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/how-much-child-maintenance-should-i-pay#:~:text=You're normally expected to,Highers or

so don't understand why you have pay the maintenance now, unless it is payment to recover the debt.
as far as i am aware, you are responsible for child maintenance whether you see the child or not, which is stated in the article below

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance/child-maintenance-2012-scheme/child-maintenance-eligibility-and-rules/do-you-have-to-pay-child-maintenance-under-the-2012-child-maintenance-scheme/#:~:text=If you don't have,have regular contact with them.&text=If you can't negotiate,for a child arrangements order.

Is that true? You have to pay for a 25 year old grown adult and it's not a choice? 

sorry, am I bad!    that article states 20 if still in full time education.  i could swear it said 25 when i read the link previously and i did think that was pretty old to still be supporting your kid 

ZaSa1418

AskAsk said:

CocoM2020 said:

Comms69 said:

Child support cannot be backdated- I’d be questioning if this is legit.

was there ever a CSA case? 

Not sure but do know when the CSA changed to CMS any outstanding claims were kept open if the receiving parent agreed to this. But the letters were sent out a few years ago so this doesn’t make sense. Why now?

this link seems to indicate that arrears can be billed
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance/child-maintenance-2012-scheme/child-maintenance-enforcement/child-maintenance-enforcement-where-to-start/

Yes but only if there was an open case at the time, if she opened a case now for however many years ago it can't be done.
There were many people on income support that had CSA cases opened that were still open until the changing to CMS. The cases that were opened due to income support are arrears owed to the DWP and not even the resident parent. I think these are very old cases , maybe even pre 2003 

tacpot12

I'm aware that the CMS has been writing to parents who are owed money according to the CMS records to ask if the parent wants them to chase the other parent for it, and if they agree they are sending out these letters. Some of the arrears are very old, so the first question is "Is the amount of arrears correct and does the CMS have any evidence that backed up the claim the arrears figure is correct?"

sassyblue

burlingtonfl6 said:

AskAsk said:

dx052 said:

gizmo111 said:

How old is your daughter?

25/26

this link below states that child maintenance stops at 16 or 25 if they are still in full time education

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/how-much-child-maintenance-should-i-pay#:~:text=You're normally expected to,Highers or

so don't understand why you have pay the maintenance now, unless it is payment to recover the debt.
as far as i am aware, you are responsible for child maintenance whether you see the child or not, which is stated in the article below

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance/child-maintenance-2012-scheme/child-maintenance-eligibility-and-rules/do-you-have-to-pay-child-maintenance-under-the-2012-child-maintenance-scheme/#:~:text=If you don't have,have regular contact with them.&text=If you can't negotiate,for a child arrangements order.

Is that true? You have to pay for a 25 year old grown adult and it's not a choice? 

It's 20 if they’re in higher education, and yes if you've never contributed towards your child the maintenance accrues. It’s entirely feasible to get a large demand through the post if the CMS catch up with you.

Spendless

sassyblue said:

burlingtonfl6 said:

AskAsk said:

dx052 said:

gizmo111 said:

How old is your daughter?

25/26

this link below states that child maintenance stops at 16 or 25 if they are still in full time education

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/how-much-child-maintenance-should-i-pay#:~:text=You're normally expected to,Highers or

so don't understand why you have pay the maintenance now, unless it is payment to recover the debt.
as far as i am aware, you are responsible for child maintenance whether you see the child or not, which is stated in the article below

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance/child-maintenance-2012-scheme/child-maintenance-eligibility-and-rules/do-you-have-to-pay-child-maintenance-under-the-2012-child-maintenance-scheme/#:~:text=If you don't have,have regular contact with them.&text=If you can't negotiate,for a child arrangements order.

Is that true? You have to pay for a 25 year old grown adult and it's not a choice? 

It's 20 if they’re in higher education, and yes if you've never contributed towards your child the maintenance accrues. It’s entirely feasible to get a large demand through the post if the CMS catch up with you.

Further education I think rather than higher.
Further is A levels or equivalent such as Btec level 3.
Higher is degree or beyond.
Child benefit can still be paid if child is still in further education up to the age of 20, so I'm guessing maintainace follows the same.