[Solved] Child Maintenance - Voluntary care

First post new to the forum -

Background -

I was notified by an anonymous phone call in July 2017 that my child had been taken away from his mother due to a breakdown in the relationship between them.

The mother did not notify me at any point, so after making some inquiries with the local authority to find out what was happening I was told they were completing an application for him to stay with his stepdad on a voluntary basis as he didn't want to stay with his mother. His mother had agreed to this and the steps to make this happen had already been agreed.

I have had contact on and off with my son due to her not letting me see him around my working schedule and it not fitting in with contact arrangements from a child from another ex partner. I have always paid maintenance to the child and have never missed a payment.

The split between her and his step father was messy and she thinks he was influenced into refusing to stay with her and wanting to go stay with his step dad.

When I was notified of what was happening I contacted the local authority to get as much information as I possibly could and was told as I had not played an active part in my sons upbringing they accepted her agreeing to stay with his stepfather on a voluntary basis. I was told my son didn't want to stay with me and the plan was to get him in the care of his stepfather as this was his wish.

I strongly advised the local authority I was not happy with the child going into the care of this person as I felt there would be a good chance he would be encouraged not to try and reconcile any sort of relationships with his birth family. His mother eventually contacted me and advised during the breakup with his stepfather he was encouraged to put in complaints against his mother so he could live with him. I brought up all these concerns with the council which were noted on the care plan.

I managed to speak with Child maintenance and stop payments to his mother as she was no longer in care of the child. Subsequently I received a letter from CMS with a new application from the stepfather asking for a case to be opened against me as he started to claim child benefit for the child.

He is in receipt of full care payments from the local authority which amount to £400 per month on top of child benefit. I felt the move was financially motivated and these concerns were also expressed to local authority.

I then contacted the local authority who were surprised he had made a claim against me and they advised me not to make any payments through CMS as this would affect his care payments. I advised I wanted to make a financial contribution to the child directly and not to the person in voluntary care of the child. They then organised for a bank account to be set up in my son's name which I started to deposit money into on a monthly basis. A few months down the line the claim was still active despite many attempts to explain the circumstances of the case, I even wrote to CMS and gave authorisation of the case worker involved to speak on my behalf to explain the type of care he is looked after under. This was all ignored by CMS and the local authority did not help with anything related to this despite trying to speak with the claimant.

The stepfather of the child is not willing to deal with me direct and is pushing forward with this case with CMS even though I should according to there policy play an active role in making decisions for the child with them.

Can anyone help me where I stand with this? My son has said he is not ready to meet with me although he is happy to receive messages and responds from time to time. I am trying my best to build a relationship with him even though he is being influenced by stepfather not to have contact with me. The council are not really forthcoming with information and the mother ignores correspondence from them.

The CMS are happy enough that the fact the claimant received the child benefit I should pay the maintenance to the stepfather, They are not willing to look into the circumstances of the case in detail and are pushing for arrestment of earnings order.

I repeat I want to make a financial contribution to my son however I feel the move from the step father is financially motivated and not for the benefit of the child. Why cant I pay my son direct? He has no legal rights or parental rights for the child.

Any advice appreciated.