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Hi,
I'm looking for help.
I have a Consent Order - signed by a judge in May 2013 - that states that maintenance is based on CSA rules and guidelines at the time, and however they change going forward.
Although we don't technically have a CSA case, we agreed to adopt their rules until my youngest is 18 in 2020. I have 3 children, but in July 2013 one of them came to live with me. At the time we did not change the monthly payments, although the child allowance was transferred to me. This is because I am self employed, so we do a reconciliation of all payments at the start of February each year, based on my tax return submitted at the end of January. At this time, we put a payment plan in to place (me to her for 2 kids, her to me for the one that came to live with me), but she insisted that this had to be done using the CMS calculation as this was the only one available, and the CSA had ceased to exist (according to Government guidelines). I agreed these figures - after reaching an impasse - on the basis that it would all come out in the wash during the reconciliation process.
My daughter has now left home as she is 18 and going to University. I therefore found a CSA calculator and sent the figure - and screenshots of the calculations - for the maintenance for my 2 children still living with her, to my ex for 1.9.14 onwards.
My ex is now claiming that, since this is a new case, it must be done using the new CMS 'gross income' calculations. My position is that this is not a new case, as the Consent Order was taken out using CSA rules, and the CSA rules are still in place for cases opened before November 2013.
So my question to anyone with the appropriate knowledge who can help is, did my daughter coming to me mean that we had a new case, or is this just a variation of the original case (in effect) opened through the CSA? And if it is regarded as a new case, did that new case start when my daughter moved in with me (July 2013) before the CMS took over, or when we changed the payments in Feb 2014?
In my opinion it would be a variation of the original case. To open a new case the existing one would need to be closed and no payments made for thirteen weeks, at which point a new case can be opened. That's my understanding.
Hello Tiredandconfused
I am William, the Child Maintenance Options consultant
Usually, when a Consent Order is put in place, that order has to remain as it is for one year. After that time, the order can be reviewed or altered by either party by going back to the court that ratified it.
So, one of three things can happen now in your case. Firstly, you can continue with the arrangement you have in place and agree an amount between the two of you. This may or may not be based on the Government’s current maintenance guidelines. You can go back to court to have your Consent Order enforced or reviewed and brought up to date, or there can be a statutory maintenance case set up via the Child Maintenance Service. They are the Government’s new statutory maintenance service as the Child Support Agency (CSA) no longer deal with new applications.
As far as I can tell, this is neither a new or an old case, it is a Consent Order which, as I said, can be changed by either of you now, unless it states otherwise in your actual order. For full clarification on this, you may wish to seek legal advice.
If you would like further information about the different options available to you to set up maintenance payments, you can visit the Child Maintenance Options website, http://www.cmoptions.org, which contains lots of useful information regarding maintenance.
Regards
William
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