[Solved] Contractor + loss of job

Hi there

I’m really not sure to be honest, it might depend on what savings you have, but I could be wrong. If it were the CMS you wouldn’t be expected to pay for the period you were unemployed, but a court order is a different matter.

Just to mention for future reference, with court ordered child maintenance, after 12 months the paying parent can open a payment claim with the CMS, which would override the court order. If you wanted to look into it, it would be worth using the CMS calculator to see if you would benefit from doing that.

All the best

Thanks for your great reply!

My case is going back to court anyway due to Mum's hostility, so we'll see what happens from there.

Rakeem

I doubt family court will deal with the financial side of things, unless it’s part of divorce proceedings, contact and maintenance are kept separate.

During a divorce, financial arrangements for maintenance can be made that can differ from maintenance arrangements made through the CMS. It can be more than a paying parent would pay with the CMS. One way round this would be to wait 12 months and then open a case with the CMS directly, the calculation they make would override the court ordered amount. Hope that make sense!

In my view, the court order is for a fixed amount, there is presumably no mention of whether you are employed, or for that matter whether you start earning more. If you haven't paid, your ex can go back to court for enforcement, at which point the court could make a decision that you don't pay because you weren't working, or that you pay in full, or anywhere between those. I agree with mojo, I would look at opening a case with CMS to override the court order in future.

this is pretty brutal. i thought the ex would just open claim with CMS. how did this end up in court??

Yes, it does Mojo - thanks.

In reality, the reason I couldn't work at all was because my criminal records check certificate had expired - so it's not that the court could even say I decided not to work deliberately for a period of time (and quite frankly, if I don't it's my choice anyway a court can't compel me to work surely!?).

At Bill - so it's a D11 Enforcement application which she put in in response to me putting a C79 enforcement in because she has almost entirely (and communicated via email explicitly and implicitly in 10's/100's of others) stopped following the children's act order. She's also, in the D11, put an order in to leave the country with our child without any evidence or location!

I'm hoping the court can put 2 and 2 together!

Rakeem

I’ve not come across the D11 in Child Arrangements/ enforcement hearings and on having a quick look for info, I see that the D11 is a form to use within divorce proceedings, which leaves me a little confused... namely because it’s not a form that would usually be used in children cases.

However, I’m not legally trained so I guess it could be something that is used, it I’m just not aware of.

Please do keep us posted!

rakeem, hope it works out well for you. just sad, that someone can behave in a twisted way, to take the child out the country to spite the dad.