[Solved] Child mantainance

Hi there 🙂

I think if the CSA have not been involved previously then they cant intervene in any previous non CSA arrangement...they would only start the claim from the day that the parent with care contacted them. The court order could have been overrided by the CSA after it had been in place for 12 months, if the mother had contacted them. As she didnt then I dont think they can intervene for past monies owing, but I would clarify that.

If the court order was breached and your partner did not pay the full amount ordered then she could have gone back to court but as you say that this was agreed by the court order and theres been no breach then its ok.

As the court order is only relevant until the children reached 16 then it is no longer enforcable. If the oldest child is not in in full time education then I would say that your partner is no longer liable for maintenance for her....however, if the mother is still claiming child benefit for her the CSA would be led by this and not the fact that she is not in full time education and would allow her claim.

As the younger child is in full time education then she is entitled to maintenance for her until she is 20, unless she leaves full time education before that. There is a useful CSA leaflet that can be accessed via a link in a sticky that can be found at the top of the Child Maintenance section on here. The sticky is called "How does the CSA calculate payments".

There is also a website and helpline called Child Maintenance Options that are available to give advice on this subject.

www.cmoptions.org

Hello Jacks

Thank you for your post. I am Sarah, the Child Maintenance Options consultant. I can give you some information about child maintenance that may help you.

When child maintenance is arranged through the courts it is known as a Consent Order. Once a Consent Order has been agreed and authorised, the paying parent is legally liable to pay the amount the court has endorsed.

You mentioned that your partner's eldest daughter has reached 18 years old and is not working or at college. 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. However, if it is a Consent Order that your partner has in place it would usually state in this when his payments will stop. If your partner would like to clarify this or find out if his ex-partner can claim backdated payments he may wish to seek legal advice. Civil Legal Advice (CLA) is a Government-funded confidential legal service offering free advice to those eligible for Legal Aid in England and Wales. Your partner can find their contact details and further information about their service at http://www.gov.uk/civil-legal-advice.

You said that if your partner stops making payments his ex-partner will apply to the Child Support Agency (CSA). 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 CSA and the Consent Order will no longer be valid. However, if a Consent Order dates back to before April 2003, then law does not allow parents to change over to the CSA. Only the courts have the ability to arrange child maintenance in such circumstances. If your partner's ex-partner decides to make an application to the CSA, then his responsibility to pay child maintenance will start from around the time he is contacted by the CSA.

To give your partner an indication of how much child maintenance the CSA may work out, there is an online calculator on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/calculator.asp.

If your partner has got any questions about the CSA, or if he would like to set up maintenance using their service, he can contact them directly. He can find their contact details and information about how they work out child maintenance online at https://www.gov.uk/childmaintenance.

We have a sorting out separation web-app that your partner may find useful, it offers help and support to separated families. He can find this at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/sortingoutseparation/index.asp.

If you or your partner would like to talk to our team in complete confidence about child maintenance you could give us a ring on 0800 988 0988. We also have some other useful tools on our website to help support separated parents.