[Solved] Advice regarding self employed.

Hi Dave

Is there a reason you couldn't approach your ex and negotiate a lower amount as you are unemployed? As you have a private arrangement it does allow you to re negotiate terms and if you were paying through the CSA, being unemployed would have seen your liability reduced to £7 pw.

I'm not sure but from others experiences on here, when someone is self employed they use the previous years salary to calculate the amount. It might be a good idea to call them and discuss where you stand.

Sorry I can't be of more help...best of luck

Hello dave567

It is positive to hear that you and the other parent have been able to reach a family-based arrangement in the past. As Mojo suggested, you may wish to consider renegotiating the terms of your agreement now that your circumstances have changed.

The first step to planning a renegotiation is to consider where, when and what you would like to discuss, as well as what your ideal outcome would be. Child Maintenance Options have a range of tools and guides on their website at http://www.cmoptions.org that could help with this.

One of their tools that could be useful is the online calculator, which can give you an indication of how much would be expected to be paid along Government guidelines. Whilst the calculated amount is not set in stone, you and the other parent could use it as a starting point for your renegotiation.

Something you may wish to consider when renegotiating is that a family-based arrangement does not only have to be about money. If you both agree, it can include other kinds of support, such as you providing clothes, shoes and other essentials for your child or children.

In addition to the online calculator, Child Maintenance Options’ Talking about money guide and Discussion guide may be of use to you, as they can help you plan your conversation, as well as help you consider what you would like to include in your new arrangement.

You mentioned the possibility of the other parent applying to the Child Support Agency (CSA). To make you aware, they no longer accept applications for child maintenance. Applications for statutory child maintenance arrangements have been handled by the new service, called Child Maintenance Service, since 2013.

Should an application be made to the Child Maintenance Service, they would use the amount of gross income given to the government’s revenue and customs department, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), by you or your accountant to work out your taxable profits. For every case, the gross income figure is reviewed each year in order to take account of newer income information given to HMRC.

You can find more information about how the Child Maintenance Service work out child maintenance payments on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/how-child-maintenance-is-worked-out/how-the-child-maintenance-service-works-out-child-maintenance.

If you or the other parent decide to ask the Child Maintenance Service to arrange your child maintenance for you in the future, your responsibility to pay will start from around the point you contact them or the contact you. From there they can either calculate your child maintenance, then leave you to arrange payments between yourselves (known as Direct Pay), or they can collect payments and pass them on to the other parent for you (known as Collect and Pay).

For more information on all the different ways to set up child maintenance, including putting in place a statutory arrangement and the fees involved with this, or for a more personalised service, you can visit the Child Maintenance Options website.

The DWP 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

Thanks for replies. The point is I have had NO income since july and my partner cannot afford to pay it. She can afford a reduced amount although technically it isn't her responsibility.
My point is my ex is not very amenable and will almost certainly apply to CMS (Sorry I know it's not CSA).
If she does and I go self emoyrd in say November I need to know what they will/ can take and/or assess me on. I will have a variable income that will not start until say 3 months as sales take a while to complete. Obviously I then have expenses to deduct such as fuel to arrive at my net taxable profit . Can you please advise. I rang them and they were awful and non commital-even implying they could assess me on previously employed income from a firm I no longer work for!

Hello again dave567

The Child Maintenance Service’s ‘How we work out child maintenance’ guide has some information regarding where they get the income information they use. You can view this on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-we-work-out-child-maintenance.

My knowledge when it comes to specific Child Maintenance Service processes and procedures is limited and I do not have any information that would contradict what you have been told by them when you called. However, should an application be made and you do not agree with the figures they use, you can find information about how you can appeal against their decision on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance.

Regards

William

It seems incredible but not at all unsurprising that the CMS are unwilling to answer what must be a simple scenario-
1) I'm no longer employed
2) I am not earning any income
3) when I do it will be variable . To even suggest they would assess me on a separate employed job I am no longer in is ridiculous in the extreme. I do not earn that money so how can I pay!!!The options team are okay but all fluffy about working it out together- thats great if you are dealing with a reasonable individual.
Can anybody please help me with this as I am going crazy here.
Regards
Dave