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My partner has 2 children that he pays child maintenance for. He is on a low income and gets working tax credits. If we move in together will my income which is considerably more than he earns affect what he has to pay in child maintenance. I don't have much to do with his children and don't want to have to pay for them out of my income. Can anyone help answer this?
He's not on any scheme. He has an agreement with each mother to pay them a set weekly amount. Apparently he doesn't have to pay them anything as he doesn't earn enough, that's why I'm worried if he moves in with me, that the CSA will take my income into account and start making me pay! It seems ridiculous, but I want to make sure this isn't going to happen.
Thanks for your reply.
Hi there,
As far as I understand it they can't take your earnings into account it is based on his income, and actually there wuld be a reduction placed if you had children of your own living with you.
I would double check this though, if he has a purely private agreement in place at the moment and CSA have had no involvment then any changes would have to be agreed between you partner and his ex,
GTTS
If you are absolutely sure that he is not currently paying ANY of his baby mothers VIA a statutory agency (Child Support Agency etc.), then you are on to a winner.
Any new claim will be put on the new CMS scheme.
On this scheme, the partner's (or total household) income is not considered at all.
All that is considered is his Gross Income (before tax), and how many other children he is paying for.
If one ex takes him to CMS, then it is worth him converting all to CMS.... but that is his problem, not yours.
Hi ashfordd,
From what you have said your partner has, at the moment, what the Child Maintenance Service refer to as a Family-based arrangement. In other words a private agreement between himself and his children's mothers. The only way he would end up paying more for this is if he agrees to pay more.
If your partners children's mothers were not happy with the amount then they could open a case with the Child Maintenance Service. Then the amount of maintenance he was due to pay would be calculated on his yearly gross income from information supplied by HM Revenue and Customs. Your salary will not have any bearing on this calculation.
You can take a look here at how Child Maintenance is Calculated .
You would not be expected to pay maintenance for his children.
There is a chance that he might be liable to start paying an amount of money towards maintenance it really depends on how low his earnings are. If his gross weekly salary is over £7 then he would be expected to pay something via the CMS. You can find out exactly how much by using this calculator
I hope this puts your mind at rest.
Gooner
Hello Ashfordd
Child maintenance is calculated on the paying parent’s gross income. With your partner and his children’s mother having a family-based arrangement in place it is between them to discuss and negotiate their maintenance payments. Family-based arrangements are not legally enforceable and there are no strict rules or formulas to stick to. Therefore parents can decide the terms of their agreement to suit their current circumstances.
If your partner has ever had a case with the Government’s statutory scheme, he may wish to speak to them directly to discuss his concerns. He will find their details on any letters they have sent him or on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance. Depending on when the application were made your income may be taken into consideration.
For more information on the different ways to set up child maintenance, you can visit the Child Maintenance Options website at http://www.cmoptions.org.
The DWP 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: www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.
Regards
William
when did your partner split from his ex? If it is after 2003, then even if she had opened a case with the CSA, then there is no chance at all that he is on CSA1, so your income can't be included - if before then, then it's as stated by everyone above, that hopefully is was done privately with the CSA not being involved. The CSA do take account of Child Tax credits that you receive, but otherwise not your income.
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