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Hi
I am new here and after some advice.
I am currently a full time stay at home father to the children in my new relationship and so do not make any formal contributions to my ex for the children from that relationship through the CSA, I did until the arrival of my children in my new relationship but then we couldn't afford to pay CSA and child care costs so I am now staying at home to look after my youngest children. If I start to pay NI contributions on a voluntary basis will this effect the fact that I still do not need to pay CSA to my ex, I'm not trying to avoid paying but I don't want to loose the large sums that I was loosing when I was working, especially when it meant that my children from my current relationship had to loose out to my ex.
CMS payments are based purely on your income (or benefits) - if you are earning nothing, then you will pay nothing. The only exception is if your partner is getting child tax credit - in which case I think half of that is assessed for maintenance. If you are on benefits, then you will pay the flat £7 per week. It would be good if you can afford to pay anything in maintenance voluntarily as ultimately, they are still your children.
Hi OllieC
Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. We are unable to comment on Child support Agency (CSA) cases are we are a separate organisation and do not have access to your case information. However, you can find more information on how the child maintenance service works out child maintenance on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/how-child-maintenance-is-worked-out/how-the-child-support-agency-works-out-child-maintenance.
You may also wish to discuss your query with the CSA directly. You can find the contact details on any letters that you may have received from the CSA or by visiting Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/contact.
With regards to the other ways to put child maintenance in place, you could set up a family-based arrangement with your ex-partner. With this type of agreement, there are no strict rules to stick to.
A family-based arrangement does not always need to be about money, although many parents do include regular financial contributions. You arrangement can include money and other kinds of support, such as you directly paying for things that you children may need. Although family-based arrangements are not legally-binding and enforceable, they can easily be reviewed, such as if you or your ex-partner’s circumstances change. You can find more information on family-based arrangements on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/family/index.asp.
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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