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Without going into too much detail. I have been split from my ex for over 2 years now and have a 5 year old daughter. I have been paying her without fail every month a private set amount. Higher than what I should be paying according to the CSA. When my wages dropped I reduced her amount to still above the amount the CSA had said. But recently I got a new partner and she kicked off blaming me getting a new partner for the drop. Although this was months before me met. Now she is telling me not to contact her or my daughter. She has threatened me with going to CSA before as my only leverage is unless I see my daughter I refuse her the maintenance and pay it into my daughters account. This has worked well as before as with working for a company based outside the UK and not paying UK tax she couldn’t apply. But now they have informed her they can do an attachment of earnings. I don’t mind paying for my daughter but on the agreement of access, as I believe if this system was in place then more dad’s would get access to their kids.
Although I don’t want to stop payments this was a good way of insuring me access to my daughter. Does anyone know if it’s the salary paid into my account or from wage slips from my company? I get paid in dollars and the exchange rate changes so much that I don’t have a certain weekly wage.
Unfortunately contact and finances are two separate issues in the eyes of the court and if you do not pay your maintenance it can be backdated. The amount you pay is based on your gross annual salary and can either be paid voluntarily or taken directly from you.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, unfortunately in the eyes of the law paying for your child is more important than being able to be part of their life! Be a different case if the mum didn't get the money while not allowing you to see the child without just cause.
I'll always pay the maintenance, just begrudge it as she is not allowing me to see my child after over 2 years of no issues. I'm trying to work out how much access the CMS has to either bank or wage slips. As I have explained wage slip is in US $ and depending on the bank is normally not the same in pounds at the exchange rate.
It's probably worth giving the CMS a call.
If you're having issues with contact, mediation would be a good place to start and failing that, a court application. Mediation is mandatory before attempting court.
To be honest I'm trying to avoid using any of the services such as CMS or courts. I've seen the damage they do. CSA or CMS as it is now, rarely take everything into account such as travel expenses or how often I have my daughter. Generally believing the mother at all times and not bothered about the proof you have,
As for the contact, unfortunately she has another child and spent years going through the court process. She knows every trick in the book and the fact the courts have no power to enforce the orders that they come out with! As I said before they could do an attachment of earning I had a nice way of keeping contact with my child! Not the best way to go about it, but if this was a common way of doing it a lot more dad would have access to their kids.
Thanks for the reply again though!
The courts do have powers and are wising up to mothers who continually breach orders. Whilst I appreciate you've seen the impact the process can have, unfortunately it is a last resort and the only route available in certain situations. Our members have had good and bad experiences of both CSA/CMS and the court process and we will try to help guide and support you if you have any further questions.
Good luck
Hello Geordie251
Contact and maintenance are not linked in law and issues with one should not affect the other. From what you have written it sounds like you have a family-based arrangement in place with your ex-partner. Although family-based arrangements are not legally enforceable, parents can decide the terms of their agreement to suit their current circumstances, as there are no strict rules or formulas to follow.
The Child Maintenance Options website has a useful tools and guides section that you and the other parent may find helpful when trying to negotiate your family-based arrangement. This can be found at http://www.cmoptions.org.
The Child Maintenance Service can only deal with an application for child maintenance when both parents and the child live in the UK. However, there are exceptions to this when any of the following points apply to the paying parent (referred to in legislation as the non-resident parent):
- Is working abroad in the service of the crown. (for example, is a Civil Servant, works within Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service or is a member of the Armed Forces).
- Works abroad for a UK based company (for example the company employs people to work outside the UK but makes payments via a UK payroll. The company also needs to be registered under the Companies Act 1985 (England, Wales and Scotland) or the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.)
- Works abroad on a secondment for a prescribed body (for example, works for an NHS trust, regional health authority, primary care trust or local authority).
For further information on how the Child Maintenance Service calculates child maintenance you may find the following link useful, https://www.gov.uk/how-child-maintenance-is-worked-out/how-the-child-maintenance-service-works-out-child-maintenance.
If you feel you cannot renegotiate your family-based arrangement, you may want to approach your local magistrates' or family court to apply for a court order for maintenance to be made. This can then be enforced by the Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO).
This is an agreement set up via the British Government with other countries, to enable citizens to receive maintenance if a parent lives abroad. You can find a full list of participating countries at www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/protecting-the-vulnerable/official-solicitor/reciprocal-enforcement-of-maintenance-orders/remo-location-list.pdf.
The REMO Unit helps to register and enforce child maintenance orders internationally. You can find out more at https://www.gov.uk/remo-unit-helpline.
For more information on all the different ways to set up child maintenance and for a more personalised service, you can visit the Child Maintenance Options website.
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
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