[Solved] Inform CSA that you wish to pay child maintenance

Hi,

As far as i'm led to believe from the forums, any of the parents are able to contact the CSA and ask for a case to be opened.

I'm sure someone will correct me if i am wrong.

That's right minipod...either parent can contact the CSA and make an arrangement to pay through them.

Thanks Minipod......

Do you know what information is requested from the non resident parent?

Regards,

Dave

Thanks as well NannyJane...

I already pay more than the CSA calculator says I should and am contemplating going to the CSA to see what they say and formalise the payments.

Regards,

Dave

I should think they would want information about your salary, assets and whether you have other children living with you. Have you checked out the link to the CSA leaflet called "How does the CSA calculate payments". You'll find it in a sticky at the top of this section.

Thanks NannyJane....Ill take a look at the stickies now.....

Regards,

Dave

Hi Dave R

Thank you for your post. I am William, the Child Maintenance Options consultant. I understand that you would like to know if any parent can make an application to the Child Support Agency (CSA). To answer your query, I will provide you with some information.

You and Nannyjane are correct in what you have written with respect to either parent can make an application to the CSA.

In your post, you have mentioned that you currently pay more child maintenance than what the CSA calculator suggests. If you pay child maintenance via a family-based arrangement, there are no strict rules to stick to. Therefore, if you are unhappy with the amount of maintenance that you are currently paying, you have the flexibility to negotiate a more agreeable amount with the other parent.

A family-based arrangement is simply an agreement between you and the other parent and is about who will provide what for any children that you may have. Your arrangement can include money and other kinds of support, such as you directly paying for items like clothing and food. Although a family-based arrangement is not legally enforceable, many parents prefer this type of agreement because it is very flexible and can easily be reviewed, if either of your circumstances change. In most cases, a family-based arrangement is the most amicable way of agreeing child maintenance.

If you feel that you would like to renegotiate the amount of child maintenance that you pay, we have a number of tools, forms and guides that may help you do this. We have a discussion guide that can help you plan your conversations with the other parent. We also have a family-based arrangement form that is not a legally-binding document, but when used to write down the terms of your agreement, it can help to make it more formal.

To give you an indication of how much child maintenance that may be payable, if you were to use the CSA, we have an online calculator on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/calculator.asp. You can use this tool when renegotiating child maintenance for your family-based arrangement.

If you are unable to renegotiate your family-based arrangement, you have the option of making an application to the CSA. They offer two schemes: Direct Pay and Collect and Pay. Direct Pay is where the CSA will provide you and the other parent with a child maintenance assessment then allow both of you to decide the payment method. After this, the CSA will make no further contact unless there is a change in either of your circumstances or if payments have stopped.

Alternatively, under the Collect and Pay scheme, the CSA will calculate and collect child maintenance from you and then forward payments on to the other parent. If you decide to use this scheme, as the paying parent, your responsibility to pay will be around the point where you are contacted by the CSA. For more information about using the CSA, you may wish to visit their website at http://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance. You can also find their contact details on this site if you wish to call them directly.

An alternative way of formalising your current arrangement to the CSA is to set up a Consent Order. This is an official ruling made by a court. To arrange a Consent Order, both you and the other parent will need to agree how much child maintenance will be paid and how often before going to court. This usually happens when parents are going to court for other reasons, such as arranging a divorce or dividing their property or other assets. Arranging a Consent Order can be costly as fees for solicitors, mediators and court costs may apply.

For more information about child maintenance, you can call us free on 0800 988 09800 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on a Saturday. We also 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: http://www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.

Thanks William...I have spoke further on your 0800 number and understand mpre about direct pay which I will probablly pursue.

Regards,

Dave