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Hi. I have a soon who is over 18 and has completed 2 years of compulsory further education. Due to a poor exam mark in year 1 of 6th form he had to resit the year (a school /academy ruling that he was attending) he has decided to quit as the government state you only have to do 2 years in further education and commence an apprenticeship of which he will get a living wage . Do I still have to pay my ex wife the (gentleman's agreement ) child maintainance. We didn't go through csa at the time or cms since. I would be grateful for your thoughts as it's become obvious my payments means she only needs to work part time and that her housing and other benefits have been affected by my son's career change
Hello Andy mear
Under current child support legislation, child maintenance is usually paid until a child reaches 16 years old, or until they reach 20 years old if they are in full-time, non-advanced education.
Full-time education is an average of 12 hours or more per week of classroom study. Non-advanced education is up to and including A-level equivalent.
As a general rule child maintenance is expected to be paid while ever a child is eligible for Child Benefit. You can find more information about when child maintenance and Child Benefit stops on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop.
For information on all the different ways to set up child maintenance and for a more personalised service, you can visit the Child Maintenance Options website at http://www.cmoptions.org.
The DWP 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
Hi Andy
Sorry I missed your post, it was tagged onto the end of another and can easily get overlooked so I've moved it into its own thread.
As you have a family based arrangement outside of the CSA/CMS its up to you to negotiate with the mother.
Some approved apprenticeships are counted and in those circumstances maintenance would continue, but from the sound of it, if he is receiving a living wage, this probably doesn't apply.
I sense you are a little concerned that your ex is reliant on the payments she receives from you, if you are able to, it might be appropriate to agree to continue the payments for a few more weeks to give her a chance to sort her finances out, but this would be at your discretion of course.
If your son is still living with your ex then it would also be right and proper for him to start contributing to the household finances and this may help her make the transition too.
Best of luck
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