Just got hit with 14,000 pound csa bill

nanof7

Hi my husband has just been hit with a £14,000 pounds csa bill and they are taking it out of his wages 
his son is now 25 yrs old but when he divorced his son’s mother in 2004 and he gave her the house and 10,000 in cash 
and was paying her 280 a month child support for 2 yrs 
all this was signed by a judge so I don’t see  why we owe her all this money 
we have tried ringing csa they don’t want to know because it is getting paid through his wages 
what can we do we are at our witts end my husbands son has refused to see his dad for the past 14 yrs and he’s changed his surname 
no mention of any money was discussed after the divorce because of all the money he gave her but she recently split up with her boyfriend and all of a sudden we are hit with this bill
PLEASE I would be grateful of any advice 

[Deleted User]

nanof7 said:

Hi my husband has just been hit with a £14,000 pounds csa bill and they are taking it out of his wages 
his son is now 25 yrs old but when he divorced his son’s mother in 2004 and he gave her the house and 10,000 in cash 
and was paying her 280 a month child support for 2 yrs 
all this was signed by a judge so I don’t see  why we owe her all this money 
we have tried ringing csa they don’t want to know because it is getting paid through his wages 
what can we do we are at our witts end my husbands son has refused to see his dad for the past 14 yrs and he’s changed his surname 
no mention of any money was discussed after the divorce because of all the money he gave her but she recently split up with her boyfriend and all of a sudden we are hit with this bill
PLEASE I would be grateful of any advice 

 If he only paid child support for 2 years what did he think would happen? Want to have kids you have to contribute to their upbringing. 

nanof7

He has paid for his son like I said when they divorced he gave her the house which when she sold it the same year she got 80,000 profit and 10,000 cash which was signed by a judge in their divorce that that was maintenance for his son and she wouldn’t come after him for any more money so I think if you look at it he has given her well over 90,000 pounds to be classed as maintenance and that was from his son being 9yrs old to 16 
so please don’t think for 1 minute he hasn’t provided 
and there is no need to be nasty

nanof7

_shel said:

nanof7 said:

Hi my husband has just been hit with a £14,000 pounds csa bill and they are taking it out of his wages 
his son is now 25 yrs old but when he divorced his son’s mother in 2004 and he gave her the house and 10,000 in cash 
and was paying her 280 a month child support for 2 yrs 
all this was signed by a judge so I don’t see  why we owe her all this money 
we have tried ringing csa they don’t want to know because it is getting paid through his wages 
what can we do we are at our witts end my husbands son has refused to see his dad for the past 14 yrs and he’s changed his surname 
no mention of any money was discussed after the divorce because of all the money he gave her but she recently split up with her boyfriend and all of a sudden we are hit with this bill
PLEASE I would be grateful of any advice 

 If he only paid child support for 2 years what did he think would happen? Want to have kids you have to contribute to their upbringing. 

I was just asking for advice as the csa are refusing to help no need to be nasty

[Deleted User]

nanof7 said:

_shel said:

nanof7 said:

Hi my husband has just been hit with a £14,000 pounds csa bill and they are taking it out of his wages 
his son is now 25 yrs old but when he divorced his son’s mother in 2004 and he gave her the house and 10,000 in cash 
and was paying her 280 a month child support for 2 yrs 
all this was signed by a judge so I don’t see  why we owe her all this money 
we have tried ringing csa they don’t want to know because it is getting paid through his wages 
what can we do we are at our witts end my husbands son has refused to see his dad for the past 14 yrs and he’s changed his surname 
no mention of any money was discussed after the divorce because of all the money he gave her but she recently split up with her boyfriend and all of a sudden we are hit with this bill
PLEASE I would be grateful of any advice 

 If he only paid child support for 2 years what did he think would happen? Want to have kids you have to contribute to their upbringing. 

I was just asking for advice as the csa are refusing to help no need to be nasty

 Not being nasty being factual. If you dont pay for child support and your ex reports you for whatever reason they will catch up to you. 

nanof7

_shel said:

nanof7 said:

_shel said:

nanof7 said:

Hi my husband has just been hit with a £14,000 pounds csa bill and they are taking it out of his wages 
his son is now 25 yrs old but when he divorced his son’s mother in 2004 and he gave her the house and 10,000 in cash 
and was paying her 280 a month child support for 2 yrs 
all this was signed by a judge so I don’t see  why we owe her all this money 
we have tried ringing csa they don’t want to know because it is getting paid through his wages 
what can we do we are at our witts end my husbands son has refused to see his dad for the past 14 yrs and he’s changed his surname 
no mention of any money was discussed after the divorce because of all the money he gave her but she recently split up with her boyfriend and all of a sudden we are hit with this bill
PLEASE I would be grateful of any advice 

 If he only paid child support for 2 years what did he think would happen? Want to have kids you have to contribute to their upbringing. 

I was just asking for advice as the csa are refusing to help no need to be nasty

 Not being nasty being factual. If you dont pay for child support and your ex reports you for whatever reason they will catch up to you. 

Please read the comment I have put above about what my husband has paid and we have paperwork signed by his ex wife and a judge all I’m asking for is advice on what we can do with csa refusing to help

[Deleted User]

nanof7 said:i

_shel said:

nanof7 said:

_shel said:

nanof7 said:

Hi my husband has just been hit with a £14,000 pounds csa bill and they are taking it out of his wages 
his son is now 25 yrs old but when he divorced his son’s mother in 2004 and he gave her the house and 10,000 in cash 
and was paying her 280 a month child support for 2 yrs 
all this was signed by a judge so I don’t see  why we owe her all this money 
we have tried ringing csa they don’t want to know because it is getting paid through his wages 
what can we do we are at our witts end my husbands son has refused to see his dad for the past 14 yrs and he’s changed his surname 
no mention of any money was discussed after the divorce because of all the money he gave her but she recently split up with her boyfriend and all of a sudden we are hit with this bill
PLEASE I would be grateful of any advice 

 If he only paid child support for 2 years what did he think would happen? Want to have kids you have to contribute to their upbringing. 

I was just asking for advice as the csa are refusing to help no need to be nasty

 Not being nasty being factual. If you dont pay for child support and your ex reports you for whatever reason they will catch up to you. 

Please read the comment I have put above about what my husband has paid and we have paperwork signed by his ex wife and a judge all I’m asking for is advice on what we can do with csa refusing to help

 No judge would have signed an agreement for them to only pay 2 years child support!

 Handing over money your spouse has helped bring into the family is normal. 

 Handing over the family home when you have children to house also fairly normal. 

 If you claim to have a copy if a Court Order specifically stating they were only to pay child support for 2 years mailing it to them to prove it is a start. 

theoretica

I think the first thing would be to get legal advice that the exact wording of the divorce agreement is what he thinks it is, I understand it is unusual for responsibility for ongoing child maintenance to be signed away.  Does he have legal cover through home insurance, employee assistance, union or anything like that?  If not perhaps ask CAB or try to arrange a free initial consultation with a family solicitor.

nanof7

He paid the 2 yrs child support while he was waiting for all the divorce and money matters to be finalised and his ex wife clearly stated the money and everything would be to raise his son and wouldn’t come after him in future for any more financial help regarding his son 
the point I’m trying to get across is the csa do not want to know they have said it’s out of their hands even though we have the court documents 
im just asking if anyone knows where else we can turn to for help 
cus I don’t think it’s fair she can do this

tacpot12

The CMS took over from the CSA in 2013, but it took a number of years to migrate cases to the CMS. I expect that you husband's case was one of the last to be moved, as his obligation to pay child maintenance for his son would have becoming  to an end in 2014/15. 

You husband should really be able to obtain a statement showing what child maintenance he was assessed for in each month from the point at which the other parent asked the CSA to collect child maintenance. It is worth pushing for this; he can make a written complaint if he asks for this and they refuse to provide it.  See here for details of how to complain:
Complaining about the Child Maintenance Service - Citizens Advice 

Unfortunately, it is probably going to show that he does owe £14,000 as this is only £129/month (assuming that the 2 years he did pay are not included in the statement - if they are included, he can make the argument that he did pay them - he will need his bank statements to show this). Your husband should have been chased by the CSA for these payments, so should have been aware of them. Unfortunately, just because the CSA can't find you doesn't mean you don't owe the money.  If he can find anything that the CSA did wrong, he might be able to negotiate longer to pay. 

Caz3121

nanof7 said:

He has paid for his son like I said when they divorced he gave her the house which when she sold it the same year she got 80,000 profit and 10,000 cash which was signed by a judge in their divorce that that was maintenance for his son and she wouldn’t come after him for any more money so I think if you look at it he has given her well over 90,000 pounds to be classed as maintenance and that was from his son being 9yrs old to 16 
so please don’t think for 1 minute he hasn’t provided 

Financial order for divorce will take into account the entire finances including property, savings, pensions etc. Whether the house equity plus £10k equates to a reasonable % will depend on what other assets there were. His 50% of the equity plus £10k would have come to £50k (assuming no change in house value between divorce and sale)....what was the value of the assets he retained...pension etc? Even if she received 100% of the marital assets (his 50% plus hers) it would be rare that this would be treated as advanced child maintenance.
When he had legal advice he should have been informed that after the court order had been in place for 12 months, the ex was within her right to open a case with the CSA for child maintenance which would supersede the court order for child maintenance.
CSA/CMS can only go as far back as to when a case was opened. He should have been made aware all those years ago that a case had been opened and he had a liability. Liability will have continued until child left full time non-advanced education (maybe 18)