Hello,
Hopefully someone can help me, am at the end of my tether and extremely stressed out about this whole situation.
In short my son wanted to live with me from age 14.5, my ex refused point blank to talk about it so I arranged mediation. Nothing was agreed other than he can make his own decision when he reaches 16. This day came and since then he has spent over 90% of his time with me, the only reason it's not 100% is because I have had to go away for work and he went there for her birthday and mothers day.
In April I submitted a child maintenance claim, they contacted his mum who lied and said that childcare was 50/50. They believed her lies and denied my claim on the basis they she is still in receipt of CB. They advised me to submit a claim for CB which I did way back in April and not heard anything on that, in the meantime CMS agreed to keep my application on hold pending the outcome of my CB application, then out of the blue they called and said they were closing the case.
If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful, CB cannot be they only way they determine who is the primary carer?
Thanks
hi,
unfortunately CMS use CB to decide who primary carer is, and also Court orders for child arrangements. Probably unlikely a court will make an order for your son due to his age.
Have CB people asked you for evidence that son lives with you. if you can chase it up, hopefully the CB is transferred to you, then CMS close your case as paying parent.
I have just had my latest CM letter and my maintenance has gone up £50, I really don't think I can take anymore of this as this cost of living crisis is hitting me hard, now they want me to pay £50 more, I already have next to nothing left once all my bills have gone out how is a person supposed to have a quality of life. My son is 17 in October and I havent seen him since he was 2 due to his mother and her mother, I know my son is well known to the police and has been expelled from school a few times so how would I check if he is in education or not as they dont leave you the option on their site, I cant report a change of circumstances because I dont know if he has stayed on at school or not. I really have had enough
@tonyb hi. Sorry to hear. Has there been any drops in your income, if down by 25% you should let CMS know. Sometimes their calculations are wrong, have to carefuly check. Do you have arrears that you owe? If so they should let you spread repayment by 2 years at least. I recommend you join this group of paying parents, very helpful:
https://www.facebook.com/share/wWxEboU8aXV5TxzL/