Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
Hi, I pay my ex for my son an agreed amount as per a personal agreement between me and her. My son turns 19 in July finishing a 3 year mechanics course at college. She has informed me that due to his learning difficulties he will not be doing the level 3 mechanics but instead will be enrolling in college for another year to do Maths and English GCSE as he failed to attain these when he finished age 16. This will take him up to the age of 20 of which I am unsure as to whether I still need to pay her our agreed sum or not. Any information on this matter is greatly appreciated.
The CMS rules are that you need to pay for them until they are 20 if they are in full time non advanced education. I had to pay for one of mine right up to then. She just kept switching courses and didn’t really qualify as anything in the end which was annoying.
Sounds like you have a private arrangement so theoretically you could stop payment but she could then apply to CMS and those bastards are hard to get rid of. I would recommend you voluntarily keep paying. If he stops going or whatever then up to you if you stop paying. It’s much more complicated than that if the CMS are involved.
Jellybean. Many thanks for the info. I had a feeling I would have to pay and like you its annoying as the last 3 years doing mechanics has just been a waste of time. I know its my ex who is keeping him in college as she doesn't work and gets her house, benefits etc off the state and knows that I will have to pay another year.
Worth noting that full time education needs to be over 12 hours per week to qualify for child maintenance via the CMS. If it is just maths and English then it could be less than that.
That being the case you could stop paying and she wouldn’t have a case via the CMS. Obviously- don’t threaten that just now as you will probably find they just switch his course to one that qualifies.
To be honest maths and English are courses that can usually be done in night classes. As a compromise, why don’t you suggest your son does that and offer to pick up the fees instead? At least then he can go and get himself a job and start earning a few £.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.