[Solved] Any suggestions

My [censored] packet maths has her salary at £72K, which without any pension contributions would be CMS of £858 with no reductions for overnight stays. You mention she has the children at weekends, if it is one overnight would reduce CM to £797 per month and if 2 nights to £737. This seems in line with what you were receiving previously.

Paying 76% pension would trash that and I expect CMS would make a decision that is is excessive and she has to pay CM based on a notional X per cent allowable to her pension. She can still pay 76% into her pension but will have to pay CM as if she was paying less.

The X per cent will depend on her age now and when she first started paying into a pension. If she is say 55+ and has only just started paying in they could perhaps rule that as much as 40% is allowable(a guess). This would take payments down to around £530 per month for one overnight, less for two. If she is younger then maybe 25% would be the figure, so around £630 per month.

So my thoughts are they would rule 76% is excessive and come up with a percentage they do consider acceptable of between 20 and 40%. This means an expectation to finally get awarded between £650 and £500 per month depending on overnight stays..

The figures make some assumptions, so can vary and others may think differently as to the likely allowable pension percentage.

CMS payments are backdated to the date on which you file the application.

CMS will not count pension payments towards CM up to a "reasonable level". 15-20% is as far as anybody can get away with, may be a little more depending on age. After that CMS will consider it evasion and count it for CMS calculations.

It doesn't necessarily mean that they will stop her making those payments - they will jack up the CMS payments, which will mean she either has to pay a lot more out of her net figure, or reduce the pension payments to be able to afford it.

It's not clear what she is getting to because:

1) You can only claim tax relief from pensions up to whatever tax you were going to pay.

2) You can only shove a max of £40K a year into a pension including the tax relief, anything above that will be be returned back to you. There are some provisions to carry forward unused allowance from the past 2 years though.

In any case, submit your paperwork to the CMS in writing including all evidence. You're for once on their right side and they usually pursue payers much more aggressively.

The attached is an extract on the internet as a guide to CMS workers for allowable pension contributions. I cannot vouch for the authenticity or whether they adher to these guidelines or not.....

Good find!

yep 76% is ridiculously excessive. that would fall under their diversion of income policy. same as where a company owner would employ their partner, and assign a salary to him/her in order to reduce CMS payments, and the partner not actually doing any work.

I was looking at this thread the other day, wondering how you were getting on.

As many of us here are not on the right side of the CMS that you are, your experience will be very useful. So please keep this updated with the outcome if you would.

As many have said, 75% is ridiculous.

Better than 100% - my ex tried that one 15 years ago or so.

Hi Guys,

So I spoke to the CSA today and it would appear that they can’t stop her from paying so much pension and they can only set an award based on the income she has got.

In a nutshell her payments to me as of 1st August will be £220 a month and it would seem that the missing June payment and in all likelihood the July payment will be at her own conscience which we already know is questionable.

I have to say I did fear this and I’m really not sure I have any further recourse to appeal etc.

We will just have to get used to looking after ourselves from now on but bearing mind my food bill is £360/month i5s not looking good.

hi,

thats very silly:

if you’re making excessive pension contributions this could be seen as getting rid of income to avoid paying maintenance. If you suspect the parent who should pay maintenance is doing this, you can apply to the CMS for a variation. The CMS will ask for evidence of the pension contributions and may recalculate maintenance payments.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance/child-maintenance-2012-scheme/child-maintenance-calculation/the-2012-child-maintenance-scheme-calculating-maintenance-income/

Agree with Bill.

My ex has once again applied for a variation after again not being happy with the annual reassessment and I have forms to fill in and asking for additional income and pension contributions etc.

So you have the initial assessment, which they base on income showing. Apply for a variation yourself. I think they may ask what evidence you have, but I think paying 76% of salary into pension should be good enough!

I went through all that with the lady on the phone and she kept saying that they can compel her to stop paying into her pension and can only base their award on the actual income.

I’m not sure it’s worth appealing. They can see exactly where her money is going. £4600 last month!!!

My understanding is that this is a first time application and CMS has awarded based on what HMRC has on file or more likely last 2 payslips which has the pension either taken from it or proven as being paid after salary receipt.

You are entitled to a mandatory reconsideration of that decision or a variation is more likely based on diversion of income.

Your ex will then have to fill in a form which includes stating how much she pays into her pension and if the variation is requested correctly this is the issue they will investigate and decide if appropriate.

You have nothing to lose in doing this, it costs nothing and should be a relatively quick decision. My ex does it every year just for the [censored] of it.

The only thing you have not mentioned is your ex's age. As said in a previous post, if she is 55+ they may decide that her pension contribution is reasonable or close to.

But, do it, you have 30 days from the original decision to do this. And I suggest registering on the portal and do it that way. You can take time to write what you want to say and attach evidence if relevant. And no need to have emotional battles on the phone with people who are not too sure of the correct answer......