[Solved] Child Maintenance

Hi There,
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If you were paying through CSA/CMS then the amount that they set for you would be all you would legally have to pay, you could pay any extra amount that you wanted too but you ex couldn't enforce it.
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The payment for child maintenance is to cover ALL expenses for you children, so living costs, child care, school trips and clubs plus anything else they need.
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If you refuse to pay the extra the only options your ex would have is to either accept it of to contact CMS and set up a new case, where by the sounds of it she would be worse off than she is now, so stand your ground and say no.
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If she stops the children from doing the clubs chances are she will tell them it's down to you, but you will have to ensure you tell them that you give thier mum money and it's down to her what she uses it for, this would need to be tactfully done though.
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GTTS

Hello h17mer

With you having a family-based arrangement in place you may wish to discuss this with the other parent. Although family-based arrangements are not legally enforceable, parents can decide the terms of their agreement to suit their current circumstances, as there are no strict rules or formulas to follow. It can include money and other kinds of support, for example providing school uniforms, after school clubs and clothes.

The Child Maintenance Options website has a useful tools and guides section that you and your ex-partner may find helpful when trying to negotiate their family-based arrangement. This can be found at http://www.cmoptions.org.

Just to make you aware that the Child Support Agency (CSA) no longer take on new applications, anyone wanting to use the service of the Government's statutory scheme would apply to the Child Maintenance Service. Paying parents are legally responsible only for the amount worked out by the Child Maintenance Service and are not obliged to pay for anything extra.

For more information on all the different ways to set up child maintenance and 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

Hi

We've had this question a lot on the forum and there are always different thoughts on the subject.

I would say a sensible way of looking at this is to consider what both yours and your exes financial situations are. If say, she doesn't earn very much or doesn't work full time so that she can give extra time to your children and paying for clubs or activities would be a stretch then you could offer to sit down and look at a breakdown of the money together?
If she's earning good money and is comfortable, then I would stand your ground.

Hi,i am new here

my son is 19, he will be 20 in January, he has left full time education and child benefit has stopped, he has now decided to do an apprenticeship working with his step father at his place of work, does csa payment stop or not as it is not very clear ?

Hi there

If he has left full time education and child benefit has stopped I doubt that payments can be restarted.

Some approved apprenticeships would qualify a child to continue to receive maintenance, but if that were the case here, Maintenance would only continue until your sons 20th birthday,

Hope that helps.

Hi

As far as i am aware, it is not an approved apprenticeship and he will be earning a wage with a day at college, does that change matters ?

Hello Hindicobra

If you have a family-based arrangement in place, you may wish to discuss with the other parent when maintenance payments will end. Although family-based arrangements are not legally enforceable, parents can decide the terms of their agreement to suit their current circumstances, as there are no strict rules or formulas to follow.

The Child Maintenance Options website has a useful tools and guides section that you and the other parent may find helpful when trying to negotiate your family-based arrangement. These can be found at http://www.cmoptions.org.

If you cannot come to an agreement on when maintenance ends, you may want to follow the guidelines set by the Government. Under child support legislation, 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.

For further information on when maintenance ends and what courses are classed as full-time non-advanced education, you may find the following link useful https://www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop.

If you have a case with the Government’s statutory maintenance scheme you would need to contact them directly to see what is happening with your payments. You will find their details on any letters they have sent you or on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance.

If you have a Consent Order / Minute of Agreement in place, you may wish to see what is stipulated within your agreement as to where you stand with your maintenance payments. Alternatively, you could speak with your lawyer or seek further legal advice regarding this.

For more information on all the different ways to set up child maintenance and 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

Hi

As far as i am aware, it is not an approved apprenticeship and he will be earning a wage with a day at college, does that change matters ?

.... as child benefit has stopped then I would say that CM is no longer payable. It would need to be an approved apprenticeship for him to qualify, perhaps you can check this with the college.