Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
Hi, I have had a court order to see my daughter 3/4 nights a week since 2017 (she was aged 8 at the time) and I have always paid child maintenance by mutual agreement with my ex-wife. For a period of two years between 2022-23 my ex-wife was in and out of hospital and my daughter lived with me permanently during that period but I still continued to pay my ex-wife the agreed child maintenance payments. From 2024 onwards, contact returned to normal and maintenance payments continued as normal.
My daughter is now 16yrs old and my wife has recently informed me that she is moving away from the area (120 miles away) and that my daughter has agreed to go with her. I am obviously very upset by this and it is against my wishes as it will be difficult to see my daughter on a regular basis which I am used to. My ex-wife has now informed me that she wants to discuss an increase in child maintenance payments.
I believe this to be very unfair seeing as I continued to pay her substantial maintenance (over £4k pa) even when my daughter was living with me full time for 2 years. I did this purely out of goodwill and during this time, my ex-wife will have continued to claim child benefits and tax credits even though my daughter lived with me full time.
Therefore, can you please advise on the following:
1. Is my court order still enforceable now that my daughter has turned 16 years old? (It is a Consent Order under the Childrens Act 1989 - Child Arrangements Programme)
2. Will the fact that I continued to pay my ex-wife child maintenance during a two year period of her absence count for anything if I contest her claim for an increase in child maintenance payments? I would reiterate that she also continued to claim child benefits/tax credits during this time. I can prove that my daughter was living full time with me for this extended period and I can prove the maintenance payments were made to my ex-wife.
3. My daughter is intending to stay in full time education until the age of 18 in order to sit her A' Levels. Is it the case that I can cease child maintenance payments once my daughter has completed her A' Levels?
Thanking you in anticipation.
hi,
sorry to hear about your situation. must be upsetting. as child is 16, she can decide if she wants to move away with Mother or not. court is very unlikely to make a new order for a 16 year old.
if your still paying maintenance privately, I recommend you keep it that way. you can check CMS calculator site and it will give good estimate of how much your increased payments will be, as your overnight care with child reduces.
and yes, maintenance payments end when child finishes full time education. if they decide to take a uni course, then there is no payments to make if child is in advanced education (uni). then you can continue to make voluntary payments if you wish.
Are you paying more than the CMS calculator is coming out with (bearing in mind, you won't be seeing your daughter as much, so you'll need to factor that in) - if so, then your stance could be that you won't pay any more, and your ex is welcome to open a case with CMS, and you will stick to paying as per their calculation. You could open a case yourself and pre-empt her. Either way, CMS will take precedence over the court agreement.
@dadmod4 Hi, I'm just paying in line with the CMS calculator at present. However, for a two year period between 2022-2023, I overpaid by circa £8k because I continued to pay my ex-wjfe even though our daughter was living with me full time. This can be proven. My ex-wife also continued to claim child benefits. I received nothing. Would this count for anything if I were to pre-empty her with a case of my own?
Thank you for your advice.
@phil2211 hi, if there is open CMS case, you can contact them and ask can you claim overpayments. they might reject as it happened 2-3 years ago. if child is no longer living with you full time, then don't think you have valid reason to open counter claim.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.