Child Maintenance advice

chiwa

Hi All. Got text this morning informing me my child maintenance payments are increasing by almost £300 month. I have always informed cms of my income and paid on time the full amount every month. I have today been informed by CMS this is to cover arrears. I was not made aware of arrears until today.

As instructed by CMS last year, I was not paying for one of my children who is over 18 and not in FT education. 

Apparently it has now been decided she is in FT education and this has left me with huge arrears through no fault of my own.

While I appreciate and take on board it is my responsibility to support my children, I do so based on the information provided by CMS. If an error has been made by them, decisions delayed or information not given in a timely manner by the other parent do I have any form of redress as I am panicking over the extra payments.

Thank you.

MattMattMattUK

chiwa said:

Hi All. Got text this morning informing me my child maintenance payments are increasing by almost £300 month. I have always informed cms of my income and paid on time the full amount every month. I have today been informed by CMS this is to cover arrears. I was not made aware of arrears until today.

As instructed by CMS last year, I was not paying for one of my children who is over 18 and not in FT education. 

Apparently it has now been decided she is in FT education and this has left me with huge arrears through no fault of my own.

On what basis was it previously decided that she was not in full time education and on what basis has it been decided that she was in full time education? This normally requires the adult child to be enrolled in (and attend) a full time course with a recognised educational establishment such as a college or university.

chiwa said:

While I appreciate and take on board it is my responsibility to support my children, I do so based on the information provided by CMS. If an error has been made by them, decisions delayed or information not given in a timely manner by the other parent do I have any form of redress as I am panicking over the extra payments.

You have to pay, there is not a way out of that (they are even excluded from bankruptcy), you might be able to negotiate over a longer term, the maximum period for recovery is normally two years and they will expect you to be able to pay up to 40% of your net income. If you cannot afford that level then they will be prepared to negotiate the payments and potentially extend the term, but they will want to see payslips, bank statements etc. and a breakdown of expenditure. 

chiwa

@MattMattMattUK, thank you for the reply.

CMS decided last year my daughter was no longer in FT education and wrote to inform me of this and associated payment change. For whatever reason, a year later they have decided she is/was in FT education. I have no knowledge of how or who decided this apart from communication with CMS. Unfortunately I am not in a position to get the information from my ex wife or daughter.

MattMattMattUK

chiwa said:

@MattMattMattUK, thank you for the reply.

CMS decided last year my daughter was no longer in FT education and wrote to inform me of this and associated payment change. For whatever reason, a year later they have decided she is/was in FT education. I have no knowledge of how or who decided this apart from communication with CMS. Unfortunately I am not in a position to get the information from my ex wife or daughter.

I would ask the CMS citing your previous communication from that that states she was not. I am wondering if she finished full time education and then only told the CMS she had signed up for further education after her mother realised the payments had stopped? Eg. at her age she finished A-Levels then did not tell the CMS she had gone to university until later in the year?