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My 18 year old daughter works 30+ hours a week. She also did a college course that’s now finished.
Her mum is making her do another course starting in September, that she doesn’t want to do, but will attend so that her mum gets benefits. This is a 3 day a week course - they won’t tell me how many actual hours.
She doesn’t live with her mum, she lives with her grandmother.
Should I be paying CSA to my daughters mother?
I also pay CSA for another child that lives with her mum. She works and is still in education.
Hi there
If the child doesn’t live with the mother, she isn’t entitled to claim benefits for her, that includes child benefit or maintenance. Proving that may be difficult though.
If your daughter attends college and is there for more than 12 hours a week, she is classed as being in full time education, but it would be her grandmother that should claim the benefits for her.
Hello Pop
If you have a family-based arrangement in place, it is up to the two of you to decide the terms of your agreement including when the arrangement ends.
If you have a statutory arrangement in place, maintenance payments should continue until the age of 20, if the child is in full-time, non-advanced education. To be classed as full-time, it must be a minimum of 12 hours per week.
Maintenance payments also run in line with Child Benefit payments. So you should continue maintenance payments as long as your daughter is eligible to receive Child Benefit. Contrary to previous information provided to you, your daughter’s mother could still claim Child Benefit even if they don’t live in the same property. You can view these eligibility rules on the Government’s website here, https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-child-lives-with-someone-else.
If you would like any information about the different ways that maintenance arrangements can be set up or to receive a more personalised service, you can contact Child Maintenance Options directly, http://www.cmoptions.org.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a website, ‘Sorting out separation’. It aims to make it much easier for separating and separated parents (and childless couples) to find the support they need, when and where they need it, and encourages them to collaborate on a range of issues. The link is https://www.sortingoutseparation.org.uk/
Regards
William
Thanks for that William, that's something I've learnt, although it appears to say that she can continue to receive it as long as she is making contributions to the child's upkeep.... all a bit of a grey area really and difficult to prove.
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