[Solved] Child Maintenance - Ex refusing payments

Hi there 🙂

I've moved you're post into its own topic as it might get lost tagged onto someone else's thread. I've also deleted the duplicate thread you posted in the Welcome section, it can get confusing if there are two identical threads running simultaneously.

It's great that you are taking your responsibilities seriously and have taken steps to provide financially for your son.

Either parent can open a case with the CMSand it might be a good idea if you contacted them and set up a payment plan through them. This would incur a one off administration fee of £20, but if you request to go onto the Direct pay system you won't incur further costs.

Alternatively you can continue to pay into the account that you created.

Generally speaking, Court proceedings for contact don't involve the financial side of things, so even if she tried to use it against you the court really wouldn't be interested in this aspect and as you have been putting money aside she would end up looking obstructive anyway.

Hello lovemyfamily

Thank you for your post. From what you have written, it does show that you are committed to financially providing for your son.

Mojo is correct in stating that child maintenance and contact are not linked in law, so any issue around contact will need to be resolved separately, either privately or via a legal route. If you would like further information about contact, you may wish to get in touch with the Citizens Advice Bureau as they can provide information on legal topics ( http://www.adviceguide.org.uk). You may also wish get in touch with Civil Legal Advice. They provide a free and confidential legal advice service to people eligible for legal aid. You can find their contact details listed on Gov.uk at http://www.gov.uk/civil-legal-advice.

You can find more information about the different payment methods available to parents by visiting the Child Maintenance Options website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/maintenance/ways-to-pay.asp.

In terms of setting up child maintenance, parents can decide to make an arrangement privately via a family-based arrangement. Even though this type of agreement is not legally-binding, it gives parents the flexibility to decide how much child maintenance that is to be paid and the form that it will be paid.

As Mojo mentioned, child maintenance can also be arranged using the Child Maintenance Service of which there is a one-off, non-refundable £20 application fee which must be paid by the parent making the application (plus other fees may apply). If the Child Maintenance Service is used, your responsibility to pay would begin from when the Child Maintenance Service contacts you. Child maintenance can also be set up via the courts. To discuss the ways that you can set up child maintenance in more detail, you may wish to contact Child Maintenance Options directly. You can find the ways that you can contact them by visiting their website at http://www.cmoptions.org/.

You may be interested to know that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a new web application, 'Sorting out Separation'. It aims to make it much easier for separated parents 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: www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.

Regards

William