[Solved] Maintenance back-payment demand with no court orde

No there

Agreements made in mediation are not legally binding and an email agreeing to it is also not a legal document, although I'm not sure of the legalities of this being interpreted as a family based arrangement if she did approach the CSA.

Had she opened a case with the CSA you would assume that you would have received correspondence from them, have you changed address since divorcing?

I think it would be a good idea for you to start making payments for your daughter and either parent can open a claim with the CSA, or CMS as they are now known.

We can ask the Child Maintenance Options expert to give you some advice.

Hi there - many thanks for your reply.

I haven't moved since divorcing so I can safely say the CSA have never attempted to contact me.

Your comment that the CSA might have interpretted my email agreement as a family based arrangement if she contacted them, causes me a bit of concern. But wouldn't the CSA have informed me of this? Also, I checked the wording of the final letter from the mediator and he stated that we should continue via our solicitors before making a legally binding agreement, which we never did.

I would really appreciate the expert advice you suggest.

Thanks again

Hello David000

It is every parent’s responsibility to pay maintenance for their children. However, if you did not have a legally binding agreement in place, you would not be required to make back-dated payments. Family-based arrangements are not legally enforceable, so it would not matter if the e-mail you sent was interpreted as a family-based arrangement or not.

If a case had been made with the Child Support Agency (CSA) they would have made contact with you, so you would know about that.

The CSA no longer deal with new maintenance applications. As mentioned by Mojo, the Child Maintenance Service now deal with those.

They are just one way that a maintenance arrangement can be set up. If you would like information about all the options available and a more personalised service, you can contact Child Maintenance Options directly, http://www.cmoptions.org.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a web application, ‘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 http://www.cmoptions.org/en/sortingoutseparation/index.asp.

Regards

William

Hello William,

Thank you for your detailed response - that's incredibly helpful!

I shall check the links but in the meantime I wondered if I could trouble you just a little more with this?

My ex-wife has got back to me saying that when I made a payment for child maintenance it turned the agreement into a legally binding one. I have checked and she is correct that a long time ago I did make a single payment before discontinuing these. Do you think she is correct in her ascertain?

Thanks,
David

I'm skeptical about that!

Definitely not - unless there is a court order or a case with CSA/CMS, then nothing is legally binding.

Sounds like she has spoken to someone who has a vague knowledge of contract law and has completely misinterpreted it to relate to family law. Get her to find the precedent - that'll waste a lot of her time 😀

Having said all that, as CMO stated above, you do really have a responsibility to pay towards your child's maintenance, as you have said you are now happy to do.

Hi there,

Thanks for taking the trouble to get back with your advice - must confess I am very relieved to hear this and really should thank my ex's solicitor for not pointing any of this out to her when we divorced!!

But you are right that I am happy to start payments now there is a real need, so I have started the ball rolling...

All the best and thanks again!

Hello David000

As Actd has mentioned unless there is a Consent Order/Minute of Agreement in place or a case with the Child Support Agency (CSA) or the Child Maintenance Service, it would not be legally binding.

Regards

William