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Hi All
My daughter is in senior school and may well be coming to live with me in the coming months.
Her mother and I have always been amicable. I've paid my correct share of CSA consistently over the years, which has been an unofficial agreement between me and her Mum. Now my daughter is coming to live with me, I expect to stop paying CSA. I do not want any money at all from her mother. Additionally, I believe when she lives with me, her Mum cannot claim child benefit.
Now, I also cannot claim child benefit due to my earnings, but I dont want her mum to continue to either as a) I dont believe that is legally correct? and b) it gives some backup (I think?) that she still technically 'lives' at her mum
So my questions are:
1) Where do I stand legally? Daughter will be living with me, going to a school in my catchment (different to current school) and I will be covering all costs. Will the official CSA body be happy that I stop payments if she were to make a complaint? (I don't see on what grounds or why, but I'm trying to cover all outcomes)
2) What should I do re the child benefit situation? I don't want her to stop getting money to penalise her, as I don't really mind either way, I just don't want her to have any weight to the argument 'well she still 'technically' lives with me, as I claim child benefit'
EDIT: To add, she will be with me Monday-Friday as the norm. During school holidays she may well spend a little more time at her mums, but I see this reducing as she gets friends in/around the area that I live. Its basically a reversal of how its been historically; daughter lives with Mum Mon-Fri, comes to mine Fri night through to Sun night, then she spends extra time during school holidays (quite alot) - I have always paid the full amount of CSA regardless of extra days at mine etc
Any advice is appreciated. I may be worrying over nothing
Thanks all
hi,
how old is child? child benefit will stop when she leaves full-time education. age 20 is final cut-off age for child benefit. you mention you don't want to penalise mother by stopping the child benefit, and you can not claim it yourself due to high income. you could leave it as things are. the only issue would be in future, if she opens a case with CMS, then they will deem her to be primary carer because she receives child benefit, and expect you to pay her maintenance. they like to see evidence of court order to show who child lives with etc. but I don't recommend you take that route currently. will likely create conflict between both of you.
@bill337 Shes 14
Yes, that is my issue with letting her still claim child benefit; I dont want in a few years for it be used as 'proof' that daughter lived with mum
If it's amicable, then I would ask her if she intends to stop claiming child benefit. I am not sure of this, but isn't there a way you can effectively register for child benefit, but say you don't want to actually claim it - I just have a vague recollection of this from a couple of years back to allow high earners to register without being penalised for doing so.
@actd you can definitely contact Child Benefit office to report a change in circumstances for the child. Wait until child is living with you first though. Any child benefit due will then be paid to you. There can only be one claim per child, so your ex automatically loses the benefit.
From there, two options.
1. Save every penny of the benefit into a separate fixed rate savings account or Premium Bonds and don’t touch it. Then at the end of the tax year, complete self assessment and pay back the CB amount. You can spend any interest on a meal out.
or
2. You can tick a box to receive the CB, but states you don’t actually want any payment. That avoids the admin in 1 and your ex won’t be paid either.
I would just double check that your pay AFTER pension deduction is still over £60k though. If it’s under £60k then you will be entitled to keep a percentage of the CB