Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
Hello, I am at a total loss as ti how to proceed.
My son turns 17 in October this year.i am not in contact but want to still provide for him.
The csa agreement ends in July 17 andI need to find out if he is in education or not , as I will be able to pay him directly rather than his mother. The support lines are not helping at all I have sent letters asking his mother to confirm but have not had a reply.
Hi there
If he was still in education, the CSA wouldn't ask you to stop payments. The parent that a child lives with is entitled to continue to claim maintenance up until a child reaches the age of 20, as long as they are still in full time, non advanced education. This can include college and some approved apprenticeships, but not university. Full time means anything above 12 hours a week.
I'm not sure how you would go about finding out the whereabouts of your son, the electoral roll maybe, or social media. Best of luck with it .
Hello nige1309
As Mojo said, maintenance should be paid until a child is 20 if they are still in full-time, non-advanced education and/or Child benefit is being received.
The fact that the Child Support Agency (CSA) case is closing does not mean that you are no longer responsible to pay maintenance. The CSA are closing all cases at the moment.
What it does mean is that once the case is closed, you are no longer tied to a legally binding arrangement. Therefore, you are free to set up an alternative arrangement. This can be an agreement between the two of you if you can get in contact with your son’s mother. Or you can set up a new statutory arrangement with the Child Maintenance Service. Your son’s mother does have a legal responsibility to inform the statutory service if there are changes in her circumstances which affect the arrangement, such as your son no longer being in education or not receiving Child benefit.
If you decide to do nothing at all and wait to see if the Child Maintenance Service contact you, no arrears will build up as your responsibility to pay starts from around the time they contact you.
If you would like some detailed information about the options available to you and to receive a more personalised service, you can contact Child Maintenance Options directly, http://www.cmoptions.org
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a website, ‘Sorting out separation’. It aims to make it much easier for separating and separated parents (and childless couples) to find the support they need, when and where they need it, and encourages them to collaborate on a range of issues. The link is https://www.sortingoutseparation.org.uk/
Regards
William
I would consider opening a case with CMS yourself - it costs £20 to do so, but then hopefully they can get information out of the mother, and if they close the case because maintenance isn't due, you have that confirmation that your statutory duty is over - you could ask CMS if they can forward on a letter for you, addressed to your son asking for his bank details, worth a shot perhaps.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.