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hi
my son has now turned 16 but as I am not in contact with his mother (divorced) and haven't been for some 10 years, how can I find out if he is still in school or working, because this would change the CSA assessment.?
If you know the area that they live you could write to their local Education Authority and request the information from them. You may have to supply a copy of your sons birth certificate, they will be able to advise you on this.
If you don't know their whereabouts then you could give the CSA a call and ask for their advice.
Hello cube
I am William a Child Maintenance Options Consultant. Although I can not comment on individual cases with the Child Support Agency (CSA), I would like to give you some information that you may find useful.
As you may be aware, under child support legislation regular child maintenance payments must be made until a child is 16 years old, or 20 if they are in full-time approved education or training (no higher than A-level or equivalent), or for as long as Child Benefit is being paid. When a child leaves approved education or training, payments will stop at the end of February, 31 May, 31 August or 30 November (whichever comes first).
There are some training courses where a child can also still be eligible to receive Child Benefit payments (and as a consequence also to child maintenance payments). These courses should be unpaid and not part of a job contract. You can find further information about these and Child Benefit eligibility on the Government website Gov.uk, using the following link https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit.
It may also be worth noting that anyone aged 16 or 17 who is not in education, is not working and does not receive employment related benefits, is also defined as a child and your child maintenance responsibility will continue during this time. If you have any concerns over your payments or if you would like confirmation or to discuss when your payments will finish, (as Mojo mentioned) you will need to speak to the CSA directly. You can find their contact details on any letter that they have sent you. Alternatively you can find these on the Government website Gov.uk using the following link https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance, along with further information about when child maintenance payments end.
To find out more about how Child Maintenance Options can help, or for information on all the options available to put in place a child maintenance arrangement, including online tools and forms to help with family-based arrangements, you can visit our website at http://cmoptions.org. If you would prefer a friendly and confidential chat, please call us on 0800 988 0988 (free from a landline).
We also have a sorting out separation web-app, it aims to make it much easier for separated parents to find the support they need, when and where they need it, and encourages parents to collaborate on a range of issues. The link is: http://www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.
Hope you find this useful.
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