[Solved] 2 kids, the one is off to uni sept,

I would have thought they would want to reassess on new figures, but it's hard to know for certain. However, if you are paying directly to the mother, then you have a family based arrangement by the sounds of it, so there may be some flexibility in what you agree to pay.

Hi jules 1978

Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. I will provide some information that may help answer your query.

Under the statutory rules, regular child maintenance payments must be made until a child is 16 years old, or 20 if they are in full-time, non-advanced education (A-level or equivalent), or for as long as Child Benefit is being paid. You can find more information on when child maintenance stops on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop.

If you pay child maintenance under the Child Support Agency (CSA) Maintenance Direct scheme, you may wish to contact the CSA directly to discuss your query. You can find the relevant contact details on any letters that you may have received, or by visiting Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/contact.

However, if you and the other parent have agreed child maintenance privately via a family-based arrangement, there are no strict rules to stick to. Therefore, both you and the other parent have the freedom to decide the terms of your own arrangement, such as how your child maintenance will be calculated when your child goes to university. This is because a family-based arrangement is not legally-binding and there is no involvement from the courts or the statutory child maintenance services.

For more information on the ways to set up child maintenance, please visit our website at http://www.cmoptions.org. Alternatively, you can call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on a Saturday. We have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is: www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.

Regards

William

Hi William,

My ex went to the csa (out of spite), the csa told me how much I had to pay, this was back in 2010, Is this still classed as a family based arrangement? Will my case be closed with the new system? Do we just calculate and adjust it ourselves based on the original figures or do we have to go to the csa to calculate and adjust?

Sorry lots of questions.

Tanks

Hi jules 1978

A family-based arrangement is a flexible agreement reached between you and the other parent about who will provide what for your children, without involving the CSA or anyone else official. Although family-based arrangements are not legally binding, a lot of families feel that they work better and last longer than the alternatives.

It is possible that you have a Maintenance Direct arrangement with the CSA. This is where they would have calculated the amount to be paid and then you and the other parent agree on how and when the payments are made. The arrangement is still legally binding and enforceable, but the CSA do not monitor the payments or contact either of you again unless they are notified of missed payments or a change in circumstances.

Your case with the CSA will usually remain open unless you have been contacted by them to indicate otherwise or the parent who initially made the application cancels the case. To clarify if your case is still open you will need to contact them directly. If your case is still open you will need to make them aware of any change in circumstances, such as your child moving on to advanced education. They can then advise you if a reassessment is needed.

You asked if your case with the CSA will be closed and moved to the new system. The Government has said that all current CSA cases will eventually close. This is so parents can consider all their options around child maintenance and avoid the charges that the Government have introduced in the 2012 scheme, by making a family-based arrangement, instead of using the statutory child maintenance services. When your arrangement is selected to end, the CSA will write to you straight away. That letter will tell you the date when your arrangement will end. Both parents still have a responsibility to support their children and letter will tell you what you need to do to put a new arrangement in place. Because of the number of arrangements involved in this process it could take up to 3 years before the CSA write to you about this.

If your case is no longer open and you want to renegotiate your payments in the form of a family-based arrangement there are no set rules that you have to follow to do this. Your arrangement can be a set amount that is paid on a regular basis or can include other kinds of support, such as providing clothes, shoes or other things that may be needed.

We have some tools on our website that can help with negotiating a family-based arrangement. One of these is the online calculator which will give you an approximate amount of maintenance that would be expected along Government guidelines. The calculated amount is based on your gross weekly income (income before tax and National Insurance, but after pension contributions have been paid). The figure is not set in stone, but it can be a useful for your negotiations.

You may also find our Talking about money guide and discussion guide useful as they can be helpful with planning your conversation, as well as help you consider what you would like to include in your arrangement.

Some families find it helpful to make a written record of their arrangement once they have agreed the terms of it. With our family-based arrangement form, you can record the details of your arrangement and both sign it as a commitment to it. Although the form will not make your arrangement legally binding, feedback we have received from other families is that it makes the arrangement feel a little more formal and therefore more likely to be kept to. You can view all of our tools on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/toolbox/index.asp.

Regards

William