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Hello.
The mother of my child said two years ago she didnt want me to contact the CSA as she said it would affect her tax credits/ benefits.
Is this true or is this a game she is playing to make me look bad. I send money to her sisters account.
I am taking her to court, I am sending of the C100 form in two weeks time.
Absolute nightmare. She only lets me see my Daughter once a week for 2.5 hours. 🙁
Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you
Hi there 🙂
As far as I know since 2010 child maintenance payments dont affect benefits.
There is no link between child maintenance and contact... the courts are not interested in whether payments are made or not, and it has no bearing on the amount of contact granted.
If you have a look at the top of the Legal Eagle section there are some stickys that give lots of information about the C100 form and representing yourself in court.
Depending on the age of your child will determine the amount of contact you will be granted, but you can bet it will be more than 2.5 hrs!
Best of luck 🙂
Thank you Nannyjane
You have made me feel a million times better. I will thoroughly research the stickys on the forum. I will keep a journal through it all and hopefully post up some success in the hopefully near future. Thanks so much.
Hello Jasedwads
Thank you for your post. I am William, the Child Maintenance Options consultant. You have said that your daughter's mother asked you not to contact the Child Support Agency (CSA) two years ago, as it would affect her tax credits and benefits. You would like to know if this is true.
In the past if the receiving parent or their partner were receiving Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance and in receipt of child maintenance, their benefits were reduced accordingly.
However, on the 12 April 2010 the law on child maintenance changed. This change means that receiving parents who are on benefits can now keep all the child maintenance they receive and it will not affect their benefits.
Also, receiving child maintenance does not affect Council Tax Benefit, Housing Benefit or tax credits regardless of the amount. Any child maintenance received should still be declared to Jobcentre Plus, even though it should not affect the benefits received. You can get more information about these changes from Jobcentre Plus. You can find their contact details at www.gov.uk.
You have mentioned that you are going to court regarding contact with your daughter as you only see her once a week. If you would like more information about contact with your daughter you may wish to get in touch with National Family Mediation or Centre for Separated Families who are experts in this area. You can find details on how to contact them from the following links:
National Family Mediation
Website: www.nfm.org.uk.
Centre for Separated families
Website: www.separatedfamilies.info.
We 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.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.
To find out more about how Child Maintenance Options can help you visit: http://www.cmoptions.org. If you would prefer a friendly and confidential chat, please give the team a call on 0800 988 0988.
Thank you William for your help. There is a good amount of information there I can start working with.
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