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Hi Guys,
I`m looking for advice, before I start I will put some background details
I have a 5 year old son
I have my son 50/50 plus 1 full week at Easter, 2 full weeks over the summer holidays, 1 full week over October half term, 1 week over xmas
This year I paid for his complete school uniform, I pay for the most of his out of school activities.
I changed my hours in work so I can take him to school twice a week and pick him up 3 times a week.
I was never married to my ex, but I`m on the birth certificate
My ex has decided she wants to take a year off work and is finding money a struggle so she decided to contact the CSA, the CSA have told me that she has told them I only have him 3 days a week, which is incorrect, its 3 days one week then 4 days the following week.
I think she is going to try to reduce the days I see him to get more money,
My questions -
1. Can she reduce the days I see my son? we have joint custody and equal responsibility as the law states as I`m on the birth cert but we don`t have any court orders.
2.The CSA say I will have to pay, but as you can see I have him more than 50/50 due to school holidays, changed my work hrs so I can be involved taking him to school and picking him up, I pay more than my fair share.
3. Can I contest the CSA`s decision?
3. If I need to get a court order, what can I expect it to cost.
Thank you for any advice.
I Hi there
Unfortunately the CSA (now the CMS) generally take the mothers word for it, unless there's a court order stating 50/50 shared care agreement, in which case you wouldn't be liable to pay anything.
1. With no court order in place the mother can do more or less what she wants and that includes reducing the amount of time you have with your son.
2. As I said, they will take the mothers word unless you can produce a court order to prove the shared care.
3. The CMS has an appeals process, but without any actual proof it would be difficult to prove.
4. You can get a court order and the cost would depend on whether you use a solicitor or not. With a solicitor it can cost thousands, using a McKenzie Friend would cost in the hundreds and self representing would be the mediation/court fee....mediation is paid per session, usually anything from £90 upwards and the court application fee is £215.
Mediation is now a requirement before court action can be taken, here's a link to the mediation service
www.nfm.org.uk
Have you tried to talk to her about this situation, is there a possibility of trying to negotiate with her, perhaps offering to help her out a little if she closes the claim with the CSA? If she is made aware that you are prepared to get a court order, might she back down? Court should always be the last resort as it puts incredible strain on separated parents relationships, there's also no guarantee that a court would award 50/50 shared care.
Best of luck
Thanks for the advice, I've gone back and offered her what I feel is a good offer of maintenance but I want to have my son on a 50/50 basis, to keep this from the courts unfortunately there is no compromise.
If I take this to court, would there be a good chance of getting shared custody? What do they look at? I'm a hard working man, with a good job, the hrs are flexible, so I can drop my son off and pick him up at school, I can take him to any appointments. Own my home, got family near who can help.
Thanks
I wish I could predict what might happen, but it's impossible to second guess what a court will decide.
The court will of course look at the current arrangements for contact, but it's pretty common for a mother to reduce or even suspend all contact once they receive the court paperwork.
if you get a good judge you may get 50/50 shared care and shared residence, but it's not guaranteed, a lot of courts like the alternate weekends and one weekly midweek....or it could be anything in between.
As I mentioned, mediation is a requirement before a court application can be made, perhaps she may come round once you escalate it to a more formal we setting.
Sorry I can't be more definitive about your chances.
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