ADVICE needed ?

vick_2

After almost 7 years of living of my maintenance and handouts and using this as a training / career platform my ex wife is about to start work again. I anticipate she will be earning over £20k per year and my contributions will add £6k to that figure. Is it worth bringing in the CSA for a reassessment or will it result in my wages etc. being investigated further and me possibly worse off ? 4 years ago i bought a house and instead of paying £275 rent I paid £410 mortgage yet the CSA used this reassessment to increase my maintenance by over £50 per month ? All the CSA seem to look at is a third
of my wages and this may result in an increase as I have been forced to stop paying my pension to afford my new house etc. Incidentally u may have guessed that my case is based on CSA1

kelloggs36

Your wages will be investigated further and an assessment will be based on them but under CS1 your housing costs will also be taken into consideration, which may result in a reduction. If you want, I can do you a rough assessment based on your income etc so you can make an informed decision
?

vick_2

thanks for that but i still have a dilema here of whether its worth my while contacting the CSA or would they find out anyway about my ex's change in circumstances and make adjustments without my new details ? As u can see i am wary of contacting them as if they always refer back to the "third of my wages" after every letter i send If so then my monthly payments would increase over £50 due to cost of living pay rises and more importantly the fact that i have stopped paying into my pension fund since my last assessment.

iceicebaby

I believe that your assessment will not change based on what your ex wife earns/ Its based on your earnings not hers

vick_2

this is what it says in the original old scheme leaflet ?

Since 5 April 1993, a government agency called the
Child Support Agency (the Agency) has administered
the child maintenance scheme, for people living in
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A formula is used to work out how much child
maintenance is payable. It takes into account each

parent’s income and essential outgoings.

How is the amount of child
maintenance worked out?
The Agency take into account:
• the day-to-day cost of maintaining each child;
• the income of the parent with care and the nonresident
parent after making allowance for income tax,
National Insurance and basic living expenses,
including rent or mortgage costs.

This is the wording which is confusing
The income of the parent with care can serve to reduce the non-resident
parent’s payments but in most cases is not high enough to do so;

"not high enough to do so" ?

kelloggs36

If the PWC still gets any tax credits then any income earned won't be counted. The office still stands - that way you will know whether to contact the CSA or not.

vick_2

Thanks For That Information :t

cookiejar_2

I would never believe from your ramblings that you had a child, you've not mentioned it. So your X has gone to work. Good, its a better role model for your child than a mum on benefits. She wants to better herself, why should your child be penalised for that? Your child should be able to benefit from two parents paying towards the child they created between them.

agent_orange_2

cookiejar wrote: »

I would never believe from your ramblings that you had a child, you've not mentioned it. So your X has gone to work. Good, its a better role model for your child than a mum on benefits. She wants to better herself, why should your child be penalised for that? Your child should be able to benefit from two parents paying towards the child they created between them.

I know a guy who is paying £75 a week per child, a total of £150 a week 'towards' his childrens upkeep. Assuming the other partner is contributing the same £75 a week per child (her share, let's put it like that). Surely is doesn't cost £150 a week to care for a child - unless of course you are sending the children to Eaton or somewhere similar.

Cozworth806

Normally for a woman with 1 child she would have to earn £200 at least before it would make any difference.
If she is entitled to WTC then she will be deemed as having nil income, but she should be earning too much from what you have said, although the part year until April may leave her on WTC until then.

So expect nothing, but make sure your wages and housing costs are updated and ask in a few weeks/months for them to check.

vick_2

Cookiejar
I have two children and I did not mention them because they were not relevant to my question ! I was simply asking for advice on whether my ex's
£ would reduce my maintenance. Before you judge my "ramblings" can you imagine what sort of "role model" would stop someone seeing their children on a week night just to benefit £ from the shared care rule ?