Is it illegal to not pay a global payment through a court order

ldp

Hi please can anyone advise me? I have a global payment of £1000 per month through a court order for 2 children. It’s due to reduce to £750 when it’s just the younger child. One of them is 17 & has temporarily moved into his dads but today his father has reduced my payment to £500 without notice even though I am however still paying for everything for him ie phone, gym, football, trust fund etc.  I am on a low income whereas his father is not. He’s been there 5 weeks so I can understand there’s some living costs but can he just change the court order as he pleases or do I need to get solicitors involved again which is not ideal! I’ve already sent him the court order but I’m fearful he justs wants me to waste money again with solicitors that I do not have. 

TBagpuss

He can't unilaterally change the court order, but he could apply  for child support, and if you applied to enforce the order, he could ask the court to vary it as the circumstances have changed.
I appreciate that you may be stuck with a contract for the phone, but can you stop some of the other payments?
Have you looked at the CMS calculator to see what you might need to pay if he applied for child support, and how much he'd need to pay for the other child, to see how reasonable the reduction is in comparison?

elsien

How temporary is temporary? That may dictate whether it’s worth taking anything further at this stage. 

His dad can pay for the gym, football etc if he still wants to go while staying there, in the circumstances. What’s the trust fund? 

pinkshoes

You will need to communicate with your ex. 

If your son has moved there permanently, then halving the money is sensible and I'm sure the court would agree. You need to let him know the monthly cost of football/gym/phone/trust fund etc... then stop paying for them as soon as possible. Are any of them in fixed contracts? If not, give your son the opportunity to transfer them to his own account or cancel them.  

At 17, then he should perhaps have a part time job to be paying for some of these himself?? 

Spendless

He's halved the payments IMO because he'd have reduced costs from £1K to £750 when he only has to pay for the younger one so he's deducted that and then a further £250 because that covers/is towards the increased cost of your son living with him now. 

Is this definitely a temporary arrangement. Eg if it's because you and son haven't been getting on and it's to give you both breathing space then that's potentially different to there's currently loads of road works and he can't get to college in time from your house but can from Dad's and he's there till they're completed. 

As above anything you aren't in a fixed contract for stop paying, some you might need to give a month's notice to. Are you in receipt of child related benefits for your eldest. I don't know what the situation is with continuing to claim if it's just a temporary measure that he's living elsewhere. 

And yes your son could also look for part time work. Loads of jobs around at the minute, especially in hospitality, which should have hours around any studying he's doing. 

ldp

Thanks for your replies. My thought process is that if he has to reduce payments to £750 once my eldest is 18 then can he legally lower it to £500 now when a court order is in place. He’s 18 in 5 months & has a part time job. Obviously I will loose child tax credits too. I’m hoping it is temporary but he’s gone off the rails & his father is supporting his behaviour so trying to discuss anything is impossible. 

Spendless

ldp said:

Thanks for your replies. My thought process is that if he has to reduce payments to £750 once my eldest is 18 then can he legally lower it to £500 now when a court order is in place. He’s 18 in 5 months & has a part time job. Obviously I will loose child tax credits too. I’m hoping it is temporary but he’s gone off the rails & his father is supporting his behaviour so trying to discuss anything is impossible. 

I'm no expert, this is just my opinion. I'd have thought you could take it back through the courts but it will cost you, you will receive a maximum of £750 per month and maybe less due to eldest being at Dad's as per previous replies on here and would it be resolved in the time till your eldest is an adult?

You are aware though maintenance payments don't stop just because child is 18 but is instead linked to the educational level of study they are doing? If eldest is due to finish A level or Level 3 equivalent in the summer then payments would finish at the beginning of September. If he's taking an additional year at college/sixth form eg he's having to retake a year or changed courses and hasn't finished a level 3 qualification then maintainance would still be payable. This is assumming you're in England or Wales as other areas have different educational systems so you may need to check their rules.

This leads me to the next question. I'm unfamiliar with the term 'global payments'  what does it mean? Do either you or ex live in a different country? Just in case that also affects things.  

What are eldest's plans for the Autumn? If going to Uni then is he aware the amount of maintenance loan he will receive to live on is dependant on the household income of where he lives, so he'll get less if he lives with ex and he will be expected to top up the difference. Have a read up on student finance and how it works, several articles about it on this site.

I'd do some looking at your finances. How much are you paying out for your eldest in terms of clubs etc? You also need to work out your new income with the loss of some maintainace and any benefits but also your new figures for any household bills eg grocery shopping that have now reduced. 

Are you aware that there's a board called 'child support' on this forum?. Maybe message the board guide to see if it can be moved as you should find people on there more familiar with any legal process you can go through. 

ldp

Thanks that’s really helpful. My understanding of global maintenance is child & spousal due to the difference in our wages (15k vs 70k) 
My son is due to complete his A levels this summer & is 18 in July then will hopefully start an apprenticeship, so I’m expecting the money to stop then anyway but not by 50% when the court order says 25%. Logic would say he’s in a better position to be paying for my son who also has a part time job & I still have the family home to run & my younger child? 

Spendless

ldp said:

Thanks that’s really helpful. My understanding of global maintenance is child & spousal due to the difference in our wages (15k vs 70k) 
My son is due to complete his A levels this summer & is 18 in July then will hopefully start an apprenticeship, so I’m expecting the money to stop then anyway but not by 50% when the court order says 25%. Logic would say he’s in a better position to be paying for my son who also has a part time job & I still have the family home to run & my younger child? 

Ok so you meant global maintenance not global payments (I struggled to find info on the latter that would be relevant). This may be of some use to you reading.  https://becket-chambers.co.uk/2018/01/31/global-maintenance-orders-now-mainstream/#:~:text=Global maintenance is the mechanism,under the statutory CMS system.

and does state 'that it allows for the award to be reduced by the amount by the amount of child maintenance paid under the statutory  CMS system'  I wouldn't know whether your ex has deducted by the correct amount given that he presumably could have a counter claim to you for having the eldest who is still in education stay with him, which would just possibly reduce his payments lower than the £750  he is due to pay you from September onwards regardless of whether eldest returns to you or continues to live with his Dad because his status as a sixth former ends then 

Did you put details through the CMS caluclaot as suggested on an earlier reply? Depending on what that comes out at it might not be worth perusing.