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Hi chaps , new to the forum so a big hello .
Ok I have had a rather bad experience with the CSA over the last year and was wondering if to employ a solicitor later in the year when my son turns 18 . Googled a few things and came across this forum , hopefully the members views and comments will help me .
I have a great relationship with my kids although it's the usual every other weekend with stays on a Saturday night.
So I have two children , my son who is 17 and my daughter who is 14 , I have been divorced from the mum for 11 years and paid maintenance on time every time . The CSA were involved around 7 years ago ( don't know why ) and I in fact ended up paying less.
Last July 2013 I received an assessment form from the CSA ( I thought just a review ) and sent of my forms , the assessment came back as a few extra pounds but a request to now pay via direct debit to the CSA. When I called up to question why they then said that the assessment was being done at the request of my ex-wife and that she wanted to be payed VIA the CSA . I told them why as my son was at the time 16 and going into a paid apprenticeship in September .
Now after some enquiries I have found out that this Apprenticeship although paid is classed as a full time education course and I am still liable for CSA payments , I have made enquiries at the college and they tell me that the day he attends each week the requirement is that he is paid for the 8 hours he is there by his employer .
His employer by the way is his step father and they all live under the same house . Now some of you may be shouting sour grapes and yes there is a degree of that but I did try to encourage my son to stay on at school and do A levels so would of paid anyhow .
My question is are the CSA correct to make this assessment given my son is in paid employment of the minimum wage ( the CSA tell me he is in full time education ) , do I seek legal advice .
Advice please
Hi There,
I think an apprenticeship is classed as full time education (though I am happy to be corrected) I wouldn't personally get a solicitor involved as I don't think that it would help, You can appeal the CSA decision and I would go down that route.
From my own and hearing other examples through this site and friends the CSA don't often back down and they stick to the rules they have in place (I don't agree with all of these rules) so going against them other than an appeal would probably not change the decision.
As for your ex asking for the payments to be made through CSA, once this has been requested the CSA have no choice but to enforce, I had the same, I'd never missed of ben late/short on a payment but my ex requested this so it had to be done.
I would give the CSA a call back and just double check before doing anything else, I was under the impression that if child benefit was still being paid then you are still liable to pay CSA payments.
GTTS
Hi Stephen111
Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. We are unable to comment on Child Support Agency (CSA) case-specific enquiries as we are a separate organisation and do not have access to your case information. However, I can provide some general information.
Under the statutory rules, 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. You can find more information on when child maintenance ends on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop. You may also wish to contact the CSA directly to discuss your case. You can find their contact details on any letters that you may have received, or by visiting Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-support-agency.
For more information on the ways to set up child maintenance, please visit our website at http://www.cmoptions.org. Alternatively, you can call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on a Saturday. We have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is: www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.
Regards
William
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