Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
Hello,
I'm another lucky dad going through the completely broken and biased child maintenance system, since January 2022 I've been looking after my daughter 50/50 I've been trying really hard to not let this system affect me but the fact of the matter is that it is. I've been on the call to these people for hours on end with nothing being resolved getting passed from the case worker to the case worker, I've asked to speak to a manager and action a complaint 4 times, no callback!. I'm only trying to do the best for my daughter by giving her a stable home.
50/50 Night Care
I've been battling with the child maintenance service, challenging why should i be paying the mother after looking after my daughter 50/50 and also having daycare responsibilities (clothing, dentist, leisure, clubs...) when the common answer I hear from case workers is that her mum is on benefits so that surpasses anything which I have to say or give evidence on, which is completely contradictive to what to the 'how child maintenance is calculated booklet' it clearly states on there QA' if both parents have equal care the opposite parent, either does not need to pay maintenance to the opposite parent.
Additional Pay
I have an ltd company which I was trading and paying myself income, as of October 2021 I no longer have any profit coming in and therefore have not traded over the past year my company is now in a dormant state due to inactivity. I have let CMS know and they have refused to take this into consideration as my company still shows active in companies house. dormant is not a state which they cater to either, so they have requested I just supply a company closure confirmation, I'm a contractor and can't be in a position I have a closed company or I can't go and find work this feels insane and just not logical, I've shown proof of no income has been taken from my company for the past year.
To be honest I'm in disappear and don't know what to do at this phase. I'm looking after my daughter and getting penalized for doing so!
it's unreal how in 2022 there is so much talk about equality however there is such a clear divide on how a father gets treated in these types of services its completely appalling and clearly ignored.
I was paying CM for my son, and he stayed at mine overnight half the time, so because of this I got a ‘Shared Care Band Equal’ discount on my CM payments - 50%. For fewer nights the discount is lower (there is a table). But I was still paying the other half to my ex.
This discount applies because the NRP has ‘overnight care’ for half the time. I understand that this means housing and feeding the child, not paying for stuff they need generally. The receiving parent is still responsible for the ‘day to day’ maintenance of the child, which is why the paying parent still pays maintenance.
Technically, if the NRP makes the prescribed payment amount to the receiving parent on time, they are not legally obliged to make any other payments at all. Even on ‘Shared Care’ as that relates to overnight care you provide, not to the fact you have to share the other costs of maintenance.
You of course may wish to pay for (clothing, dentist, clubs, pocket money) but as far as I know you are not legally obliged to. The CMS was born to go after parents who didn’t want to be financially responsible, and their enforcement of a CM case ascribes financial responsibility to the receiving parent and directs that the other parent pays the receiving parent the stipulated amount. As long as you do that, and provide overnight care as per the Shared Care band you are in, you are not breaking the requirements of the CM.
As for your company, I would have thought that the relevant fact to the CMS is how much you are paid or take in dividends, and that if you can show accounts - either your company accounts or your tax return - which show that you are not receiving any benefit then I’m surprised that isn’t enough for them. Unless the value of cash in the company is healthy when they might suspect that you as director are keeping it there out of their grasp.
‘True’ shared care - where both parents provide equal overnight care, and are equally financially responsible for other child costs - means that the CMS decide that no CM case is required.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.