[Solved] Possible CSA claim against me, newbie to CSA rules

Hi there

1. I'm pretty sure that they will take account of any family based arrangements you have in place for your daughter.

2. If the debts you are paying off are in joint names they may take account of them...although I'm not too sure what a trust deed is. Are you in Scotland? The laws are slightly different north of the border. I'm not really up on the financial side of things, even less if you are in Scotland.

3. In England and Wales, child maintenance isn't means tested, so a receiving parent on benefits would receive maintenance without it affecting their benefit claim....if you are in Scotland it may be fdifferent.

4. The CSA calculation is based purely on a percentage of income and unfortunately they don't take your outgoings into consideration. If you had your child overnight they would make a reduction for that and as I mentioned, any joint debts should also be taking into account.

Here's a link to the CSA calculator, if you input details of your income you should arrive at an estimated amount you might expect to pay.

www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenance.

All the best

Yes im in Scotland, does that make a difference to any claims and are there different rules from England and Wales

There are, but I think it's more to do with the contact side of things. With maintenance the only difference I've come across I s is the fact that a child can apply for maintenance themselves and I think it can also be extended beyond 20 years of age....as I said, I'm not great with the financial side of things, my knowledge and experience is more to do with contact. Hopefully someone will be along that can give you better advice than I am able to do.

Hello KD20

I would like to start by clarifying, the Child Support Agency (CSA) stopped accepting applications for child maintenance in 2013 when they were replaced by the government’s new statutory maintenance service, called the Child Maintenance Service.

Mojo pointed out that a child in Scotland can apply for maintenance themselves. This is correct, however, this does not apply to your circumstances, as only children over the age of 12 can make an application to the Child Maintenance Service.

It sounds as though you currently have a family-based arrangement in place with your daughter’s mother, so you are already aware that the Child Maintenance Service is just one way to arrange child maintenance. Whilst a family-based arrangement is not a legally binding way of arranging maintenance, many parents think this type of arrangement is a better option for them and their children because it allows flexibility in what their maintenance arrangement contains and no-one else has to get involved.

You mentioned that you have offered to buy things that your son needs. As there is no involvement from the government or legal system with a family-based arrangement, there are no set rules that you must follow, so you and your son’s mother can decide together who will provide what for him. This means that providing you are both in agreement, your family-based arrangement can include buying things directly for your son.

There is a range of tools and guides on the Child Maintenance Options website at http://www.cmoptions.org, which could help you and your son’s mother reach and maintain an effective family-based arrangement. One of these is their online calculator – this can give you an approximate amount of maintenance that would be expected along government guidelines. The calculated amount is based on your gross weekly income (income before tax and National Insurance, but after pension contributions have been paid). The figures it supplies are not set in stone, but can be a useful starting point when negotiating a family-based arrangement.

If you find you are not able to reach a family-based arrangement with your son’s mother, either of you can make an application to the Child Maintenance Service. They can calculate your child maintenance, then leave you to arrange payments between yourselves (known as Direct Pay). Alternatively, they can collect payments and pass them on to your son’s mother for you (known as Collect and Pay).

You asked if they agree a figure or just tell you what they will take, with no option to appeal their decision. You are not able to negotiate the amount you will pay, however, if you disagree with the decision they make, there is an appeals process you can follow. You can find information about this on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/complaints-and-appeals.

Mojo indicated that it is possible that the Child Maintenance Service may take the family-based arrangement you have in place with your daughter’s mother into consideration when working out your child maintenance payments. You can be reassured to know that this is correct and you can find more information about how they work out child maintenance payments on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/how-child-maintenance-is-worked-out/how-the-child-maintenance-service-works-out-child-maintenance.

If you or your daughter’s mother decide to ask the Child Maintenance Service to arrange your child maintenance for you in the future, your responsibility to pay will start from around the point you contact them or they contact you.

The alternative to a family-based arrangement and the Child Maintenance Service is to arrange maintenance using the legal system (known as a Minute of Agreement in Scotland).

Finally, KD20, you asked if your son’s mother will receive child maintenance while she is in receipt of benefits or if it goes to the government. The information Mojo supplied regarding this is no different for parents living in Scotland, maintenance should not affect any benefits your son’s mother is receiving.

For more information on the different ways to set up child maintenance, including making an application to the Child Maintenance Service and the fees involved with doing so, or for a more personalised service, you can visit the Child Maintenance Options website.

The DWP have a sorting out separation website that you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is: https://www.sortingoutseparation.org.uk/.

Regards

William

Thanks William