[Solved] Child Maintenance

Hi there

As you have a family based arrangement then how the payments are structured and when they should stop is up for negotiation.

Under CSA rules child maintenance and child benefit are linked and if the mother is still claiming child benefit then maintenance is also payable.

Child maintenance is payable up until a child reaches the age of 16 or up to the age of 20 as long as the child continues in full time, non advanced education, full time equates to more than 12 hours a week. It's is also payable if the mother is claiming child benefit.

If a child works for more than 24hrs a week then CB should stop, if a child has left full time non advanced education CB should stop.

Would it be possible to contact the rugby club and ask them if he is on an approved apprenticeship with them?

I would venture that if your son is receiving a wage of £15 - 18k pa then he won't be on an approved apprenticeship....its up to you to put your case forward for discussion with their mother and see where it goes.

Best of luck

Hi

Thank you for your post. I wouldd like to confirm the information that Mojo has provided in his post. If you have a family-based arrangement in place for your son (i.e. an agreement that has been set up without using the courts or the statutory child maintenance services), it is you and your ex-partner's responsibility to decide between yourselves when you will stop paying child maintenance for your son.

However, if you wanted to follow the current 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. 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 child maintenance stops on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop.

You have also made reference to a court order that was previously set up. If this agreement is still in place, you may wish to seek legal advice to clarify what was originally agreed on when child maintenance will cease for your son.

If you would like to discuss child maintenance in an impartial manner, you can contact Child Maintenance Options directly. 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

Hi,
I was just wondering if you had come across any other parents in this situation.
When my relationship broke down 13 years ago my children lived with their mother. I paid Child Support monthly based on my income and access to the children.
My son came to live with me when he was 14 and I continued to pay a reduced Child Support for my daughter.
My daughter has now moved in with me therefore Child Maintenance payments should now be paid by their mother.
My son would not now qualify under the current guidelines as he has moved away in full time employment.
My ex-partner has since married a wealthy chap and she has given up her job and therefore does not have a taxable income. So the situation we find ourselves in is although their mother is capable and able to work, she chooses not to because she doesn`t need to. Hence she does not have an income and therefore does not need to make ANY financial provision for the child who would still qualify for Child Maintenance.
How can this possibly be fair?

Hello AndyBoll

You are correct in stating that your ex-partner would not be liable to pay maintenance under the current guidelines. However, it is not compulsory to follow the statutory guidelines in all maintenance arrangements.

The family-based arrangement is an agreement between parents without the involvement of the Government or legal system and can therefore be very flexible and include anything that both parents agree to.

On the Child Maintenance Options website, you will find lots of tools and guides which are designed to help parents who would like to set up a family-based arrangement. These include the Discussion guide which helps with negotiations and the Family-based arrangement form which allows you to record the agreement and makes it a little more formal.

If you would like any further information about the options and to receive a more personalised service, you can contact Child Maintenance Options directly, http://www.cmoptions.org.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a web application, ‘Sorting out separation’. It aims to make it much easier for separating and separated parents (and childless couples) to find the support they need, when and where they need it, and encourages them to collaborate on a range of issues. The link is http://www.cmoptions.org/en/sortingoutseparation/index.asp.

Regards

William

Hi William,

Thank you for your reply.

I`m afraid I`ve already been down all the avenues you have suggested to the point that I have had several communications with Baroness Altmann , the MWP, through my local MP. To action a family arrangement, there needs to be agreement from both sides but that agreement is impossible if one side`s stance is "I will pay what the Child Maintenance rules say I have to pay".

I was just wondering if you had come across other cases like this because I haven`t been able to find any other reference like this on any sites I have looked on?
My thought, maybe naively, is that there would be a better chance of lobbying change if there were more people in the same situation?

Anyboll

I suspect that cases like yours are fairly uncommon, and the chances of getting a change in legislation are very remote - I can see it would be difficult to get support for a bill that forces a man to pay for children that aren't his, which is what it would amount to.

I agree that forcing a man or woman to pay for someone else`s children, based on his/her income, would be unfair and I am certainly not suggesting that.
However, I still insist that a system that allows a parent who is capable of working but chooses not to because they can afford not to, is equally unfair.
I would suggest in circumstances such as this i.e. the parent is capable of working, chooses not to work and is not claiming benefits of any kind, a set income should be used to calculate a financial obligation to support the children. This figure could be based on the minimum wage or the living wage and therefore would not be a huge amount for someone in such a financially privileged position but it would provide support for the children.

I am starting to realise this situation is not going to change and that, for men/women in my circumstances, the general opinion of people who create these blanket laws to cover the majority is "Hard luck, just get on with it".

Thank you for your feedback though.

I agree with your sentiment - anyone who has children should pay something towards them. If the new partner is wealthy enough to allow someone to give up work, it does seem unfair that they can avoid paying maintenance because of it. In those cases, it would have to be done on case-by-case basis, perhaps based on a percentage of their earnings from before they gave up. Difficult to administer though.