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I recently got contacted by an ex partner from 14 years ago, who has a 13 year old son who she claims is mine - in all probability he is. I have never seen him, and have had little contact for most of the last 13 years
Now she wants maintenance, even though she states she doesn't need my money - which ok I have offered to pay her by standing order every month, But now she is demanding 13 years worth of back payments (£40k) and also wants compensation to the sum of £18k also...
She claims she originally went to the CSA but never took the claim any further than that 13 odd years ago... Does she have a right to claim back payments for all those years ? and compensation too ??
Hi there
If she opened a claim with the CSA and the claim wasn't closed then the CSA could pursue you for back payments, but not compensation.... However it sounds like she is pursuing this herself.
If there is no existing claim with the CSA then she would only be entitled to payment from the point she opens a claim and they contact you.
If you had any doubts that the child is yours and the CSA contacts you, you must tell them that you are disputing parentage, they would then ask you to pay for a paternity test and start to pay the calculated amount, but if the test comes back and shows you are not the father you would be entitled to have the money paid back. If it shows you are the father, then payments would just continue.
Here's a link to the CMS calculator,which will give you a rough idea of what you would have to pay for your child if she opens a new claim
www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenance
Best of luck
thanks for the info - I had seen the calculator already and have recently set up an agreement with her, though checking the figures I am paying slightly over wheat I should.
So if she did lodge a claim 13 years ago and the CSA (or whats left of it) have never made any form of contact with me then where do I stand ?
I don't understand why she would throw the "compensation" figure into the equation either, compensation for what ??
She's basically trying to pull a fast one. The advice above is spot on - if CSA opened a case, then there will be arrears (which would be substantial unfortunately) - you could contact them to see if they will tell you if a claim was opened, but the compensation is a non-starter.
...if you've set up a private or family based arrangement with her, it doesn't sound to me that theres a CSA claim already set up, otherwise wouldn't she be going through them.
To cover yourself make sure any payments you make are referenced as Child Maintenance, it's better to do this as a standing order, you then have proof that you have been paying, otherwise she could claim at a later date that she hasn't received any payments and it would be difficult to prove you had.
Even if you claimed that you've had no contact from the CSA they would still expect you to repay any arrears. If you read through previous posts in the child maintenance section you will see many stories where the CSA have pursued members for huge amounts out of the blue, after many years of not hearing from them.
Im not 100% sure what she is trying to do. She claims in messages she has sent me that she doesnt need my money, but feels she has to do this for the childs sake. Why she waited 13 years is beyond me, i havent moved... had the same number for at least 8 years now.
Her current trick is to basically satalk me on line, going through my friends list on facebook, ringing me, texting me.... and then says if i dont sort some form of payment for back payments and compensation she will be contacting all my friends etc...
I have since closed my facebook account. Im not looking at asking a solicitor to send her a letter regarding harassment to see if this puts a stop to her stalking and harassing calls / messages.
I have asked her for some form of claim reference from the CSA - as yet i have not recieved this info... i suspect that she doesnt have a claim file reference. Is there anyway i can find out ? i have tried contacting the CSA / CMS through the contact us portal, but so far heard nothing back
You could try calling them?
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