[Solved] Reducing Payments for Child moving in

I assume the financial order is a child maintenance order by the court? Assuming this is the case, apply to get child benefit for your daughter, and if your ex doesn't agree to you stopping paying for her, then you can open a case with CMS against your ex for her to pay you child maintenance. This will override an order for child maintenance from court (assuming it's more than 12 months old). Alternatively, you could apply to court to have the order varied, but that is more expensive than the £20 fee for CMS, and will take longer.

Thanks for the reply. I have been paying child maintenance for 6 months before the Financial Order was finally approved, will this be acknowledge ?

If you open a case with the CMS they will only start the claim from the point they contact the other party.

Here's a link to the child maintenance calculator, it will give you a rough idea of the reduced payment for the other children you need to pay for.

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

If there's an element of spousal maintenance, I'm not sure whether you would need to return to court to get the amount adjusted. The financial side of things isn't my area of knowledge, but I'm sure actd will advise when he's next around.

All the best

Hello johnny Sideways

As you are now the main carer of your daughter you are entitled to receive both Child Benefit and child maintenance for her. If you already have a Consent Order in place, arranged by the courts, you may wish to seek legal advice about changing your arrangement.

It is possible to change the terms of your Consent Order but to do this you will need to get legal advice. This usually results in going back to court to set out the application on a standard form and then the court will then consider any changes.

Any Consent Orders that were endorsed after March 2003 are not legally subject to change unless they have been in place for at least 12 months. After 12 months, either parent can apply to the Child Maintenance Service and the Consent Order will no longer be valid. However, if a Consent Order dates back to before April 2003, then law does not allow parents to change over to the Child Maintenance Service. Only the courts can arrange child maintenance in such circumstances.

If you decide to ask the Child Maintenance Service to arrange your child maintenance for you in the future, the paying parent's responsibility to pay will start from around the point that they are contacted by them, not from when you first make your application. For further information about putting in place a statutory arrangement and the fees involved with this, you will need to contact Child Maintenance Options directly. They will be able to inform you of all your options and details about the Child Maintenance Service, should you be able to make an application. You can find all the contact details of Child Maintenance Options on their website at http://www.cmoptions.org.

You may also be interested to know the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a website, '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.sortingoutseparation.org.uk/

For more information and for a more personalised service, you may wish to visit the Child Maintenance Options website yourself.

Regards

William