[Solved] Full time work & studying 2 college courses pay

There's a sticky topic at the top of the maintenance section for the CSA calculator - the percentage depends on how many children you have - I assume you don't use the CSA at the moment, so the calculation might be based on gross income.

Many thanks. The maintanance agreement was private but out of the blue.., the ex has decided to go via the CSA withought even discussing it with me. I was hoping that since i do 2 colleage courses that it would be taken into account but the CSA say it only makes a difference if i am a full time student so it will be based on my gross pay.
Would you know if the payments via the CSA have to be given directly to the ex or can it go to a savings account for my 2 kids. It sours my mouth knowing that my ex just uses the money to buy booze and drugs. :sick:
Kind regards

If you were a full time student, then it would have made a difference, but you are working full time so it's on your pay.

I'm afraid, that without a private arrangement (which sounds like it's now out of the question), then the money goes directly to your ex, and you have no choice in this.

Hi Christianshaw100

Thanks for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. The way in which child maintenance is calculated as changed. Parents making a new application with one child would currently still use the services of the Child Support Agency (CSA) and their payments would be calculated on the paying parent’s net weekly income.

For parents with two or more children together and are making a new application would contact the Child Maintenance Service and their payments would be calculated on the paying parents gross weekly income, the percentage paid for two children is 16%. When an application is made with the Child Maintenance Service, maintenance is paid to the receiving parent only.

The Government plans to introduce costs for using the Child Maintenance Service at some point in the future. There will be three types of costs:

application fee
fees for collecting and paying out child maintenance payments
enforcement charges for paying parents who do not pay

We do not know the exact amount of these costs yet or when they might be introduced as they still need to be approved by Parliament but the Child Maintenance Service will write to everyone with a case to confirm the exact amounts at least a month before they come in.

You can avoid costs by making your own family-based arrangement with your children’s mum. If you try it and it does not work out, you can still apply to the Child Maintenance Services at any stage.

If you would like more information about the Child Maintenance Service you can find this on their website at www.gov.uk/child-maintenance.

If you would like an indication of how much maintenance may be payable, based on how the Child Maintenance Service calculates maintenance. There is a calculator available on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/. Some parents use the figure provided as a starting point to negotiate a family-based arrangement.

You have mentioned that in the past you have had a family-based arrangement in place, could you speak to your children’s mum and try to get your arrangement back on track. This can be done without involving anyone else, or with the help of friends, family, Child Maintenance Options' guides or a professional mediator. If you feel mediation would help you and your children’s mum make a new arrangement, the following link can provide you with contact details of organisations in your area that other that service http://find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk/.

There are no strict rules or formulas that you have to stick to when working out a payment amount. You can include money and other things, for example your maintenance payments being paid in to a savings account or you buying things that your children need.

Family-based arrangements are not legally binding. However, they can be quick and easy to change as your children get older and their needs change, or if either you or their mum has a change in circumstances.

To help you and your children’s mum put a new family-based arrangement in place we have some tools and guides available to download from our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/toolbox/index.asp. There is our Talking about money guide and Discussion Guide, these can help you and your children’s mum work out together how much child maintenance your children need. We also have a family-based arrangement form. You can complete this with your children’s mum and sign your names to show your commitment to this arrangement. Although this is not a legally enforceable document, it puts the agreement on a more formal basis.

To find out more about how Child Maintenance Options can help you visit cmoptions.org or call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on Saturday.

Thanks
William