[Solved] how long before I can reduce payments?

I pay my ex £3,400 on the 1st of every month and have done consistently for the past 10 years.

I unexpectedly lost my job at the very beginning of January (2 days notice!) and have struggled since to find anything, it's the wrong time of year and at 49 I'm getting old for the City! I paid on the 1st February as normal but things still aren't looking good on the job front.

If I still have no income come March 1st will I still be expected to pay the full amount?

Would really appreciate any advice, especially if it doesn't involve expensive solicitors!

Thanks

If you pay via CSA/CMS, when your income changes (up or down) by 25%, the CMS are obliged to revalue any maintenance liability.

If this is some private agreement - then you can change the payments whenever you like (as it is not legally binding).

If child maintenance has be set via a court order - then you need to return to court to change it (as soon as possible, it seems).

If its via a court order and you've been paying it for ten years then you can open a case with the CMS. Once a court order for maintenance has run for 12 months or more, opening a claim through the CMS will override it.

With the CMS if you have become unemployed they should look again at the amount you pay. If you have savings over £65,000 they would take these into account.

Hello jasondh

As TashasHideousLaugh explained, family-based arrangements are not legally binding. This allows parents the freedom and flexibility to decide together how their children are provided for and what will be included as part of the agreement. If you have this type of agreement in place you may wish to consider renegotiating it with the other parent. There are a number of tools and guides that can help with this on the Child Maintenance Options website at http://cmoptions.org/.

If there is a statutory child maintenance arrangement in place, with either the Child Support Agency (CSA) or the Child Maintenance Service, the service handling the case should be notified of any change to circumstances. This is so that they can complete a reassessment if necessary. You can find details of how to contact them on Gov.uk at http://www.Gov.uk.

If you have a Consent Order in place (known as a Minute of Agreement in Scotland) it is possible to change the terms of your Consent Order, but to do this you would need to seek legal advice. This usually results in going back to court to set out the application on a standard form. The court will then consider any changes.

Any Consent Orders that were endorsed after March 2003 are not legally subject to change, unless they have been in place for at least 12 months. After 12 months, either parent can apply to the Child Maintenance Service and, as Mojo mentioned, the Consent Order will no longer be valid. However, if your Consent Order dates back to before April 2003, then law does not allow you to change over to the Child Maintenance Service. Only the courts can arrange child maintenance in such circumstances. For advice on changing a Consent Order you could contact Civil Legal Advice, the Government funded, confidential legal service. More information about them, including their contact details, can be found on their website at http://www.justice.gov.uk/legal-aid.

If you do not currently have an arrangement in place through the Child Maintenance Service and decide to make an application in the future, your responsibility to pay will start from around the point you contact them or they contact you. Child Maintenance Options can offer further information about putting in place a statutory arrangement and the fees involved with this. Their contact details are listed on their website that I mentioned earlier in my post.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful, it offers help and support to separated families. You can find this at http://www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Sorting-Out-Separation.html.

Kind regards

William

£3,400 for each month?! How comes you are giving so much? Unless you are a secret millionaire?

Thank you for all the answers, they're really helpful.

My maintenance was set via a court order in 2008 and was varied downwards 2 years ago (yes it was higher!).

The amount is fine when I'm working however it is steep when not.
My ex would never voluntarily agree to a reduction or cessation of payments until I start again so i'll have to take this route for self-preservation.

I've now got a CMS reference ID so will be pursuing this route asap.

AdamsDad; I have to pay that amount on top of giving her all the equity we had in the house we shared, which coincidentally I paid 100% for.
I think the technical term for what happened to me is "shafted"

Like The Notorious B.I.G. would say ... "Mo Money Mo Problems"
Such a shame you have to go through all this when everything you save and build in your life is for your children at the end anyways.
Keep well jasonh

Do let us know how you get on 🙂