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Hi, I have a financial remedy order for my ex to ensure that they pay regular amounts on a regular basis. It all started ok with them paying weekly and now I am lucky if i get something every 6 weeks. To their credit they do pay what they owe but it is not regular, nor consistent. sometimes weekly, sometimes fortnightly, sometimes monthly and now sometimes 6 weekly.
Having spoken to a solicitor today I have been told that it is unenforceable after 1 year. Is this correct? If so, then surely it is not worth the paper it is written on. The consent order states weekly periodical payments and that expires when the children are 18 or finish full time education.
I also have a CAO which stipulates I pay them £10 per week for fuel as they do all of the travelling to pick children up for contact. = £40 per month which is currently reduced from any maintenance payments paid to me.
I have no problems going to CMS except for the fact that they are self employed and I know they will declare lesser earnings leaving me with a shortfall to the current arrangements. I am not too bothered about what they pay more the fact that it is not regular and it is the only bit of control they have left where they pay when they want to. The amount is meagre but it is something and for that I am appreciative but there is no routine and more to the point no responsible commitment to paying for the children at all.
thanks for your help
An irritated ex wife
Hello Sporadic
All parents have a responsibility to provide regular and reliable maintenance for their child, and there are several options available to you for setting up a maintenance arrangement.
Firstly, it is possible to change the terms of your Consent Order if this is not working to your satisfaction. To do this, you will need to get legal advice. This usually results in going back to court to set out the application on a standard form. The court will then consider any changes.
Any Consent Orders that were endorsed after March 2003 are not legally subject to change unless they have been in place for at least 12 months. After 12 months, either parent can apply to the Child Maintenance Service and the Consent Order will no longer be valid.
If a Consent Order dates back to before April 2003, then the current law does not allow parents to change over to the Child Maintenance Service. Only the courts can arrange child maintenance in such circumstances.
If your Consent Order fits the above criteria, you may wish to consider making an application to the Child Maintenance Service. They are the Government's statutory maintenance service and can either calculate your child maintenance, then leave you to arrange payments between yourselves, or they can collect payments and pass them on for you.
If you were to choose to take this route, then your legal responsibility would solely be to pay the child maintenance amount as calculated by the Child Maintenance Service. Other expenses, such as clothes and dinner money for example, would be classed as voluntary and would not count towards your maintenance amount.
If you decide to ask the Child Maintenance Service to arrange your child maintenance for you in the future, your responsibility to pay would begin from around the point you contact them or they contact you.
There is also a further option available known as the family-based arrangement which is simply an agreement between parents without the intervention of the Government or Legal System.
You may be interested to know that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a website called ‘Sorting out separation’. This website 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. You can visit the website by following this link https://www.sortingoutseparation.org.uk/.
If you would like any further information about the Child Maintenance Service and the fees involved with this, and to receive a more personalised service, you can contact Child Maintenance Options directly.
Regards
William
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