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Been paying child maintence for almost 18 years now and just recieve a letter from CSA that my case will end on 19/08/16 I have spoken to my x partner and she says I should pay until she reaches 21yrs of age, ok the story goes my daughter is amother now she has a son over 1 years of age and she claiming benefit and goes to college 3 times a week so do I keep on paying untl she finishes college which would be no later than when she reaches the age of 20yrs or should I follow the lettering that CSA has sent me?
Hi there
The fact that your daughter is claiming benefits in her own right might have a bearing on the mothers eligibility to receive CM for her, but because she attends college, I'm not sure whether this would override that.
More generally, CM is linked to Child Benefit and CB is payable up until a child reaches the age of 16 or up to the age of 20 if they remain in full time, non advanced education, this would include college but not university. Full time is anything above 12 hours a week.
Only you can decide whether you continue to pay or not, but the statutory requirement for you to pay as far as the CSA is concerned is the date on the letter they have sent you.
I've moved this into the Child Maintenance section, just in case you were wondering. As its exclusively a CM issue it will get more attention (hopefully) in the relevant section.
Hello Chammy
Thank you for your post. I can certainly provide relevant information that may help to answer your query.
In general, 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. The definition of full-time education is more than 12 hours a week of study. When a child leaves full-time education in the summer, Child Benefit generally continues until the first week of September. You can find more information on when when child maintenance stops on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop.
With regards to your current Child Support Agency (CSA) liability, as Mojo as mentioned, you will still have a responsibility to pay until the date mentioned in your letter. If you have any queries related to your current case, you may wish to contact the CSA directly. You can find the contact details for the office managing your child maintenance on any letters that you may have received or by visiting Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/contact.
If you wish to receive a personalised service, you can contact Child Maintenance Options directly to discuss the ways that parents can put an agreement in place. Their contact details can be found on their website at http://www.cmoptions.org.
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
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