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I really need help!
Long story short, my ex is threatening me with CSA but won't prove that the child is mine. We had a "thing" and in that time she got pregnant however she was seeing her ex at the same time. I'm 95% sure the kid isn't mine as she looks like her ex and her other kids, also from her ex. I'm not registered on the child's birth certificate, even though I tried several times to arrange it with my ex. On the times that I visited the child, one of her other kids told me I wasn't the baby's dad - where would a 5 year old hear that from?! I didn't hear anything from her in over a year and now she's threatening me and my current girlfriend saying she's going to backdate CM and has gone to the press creating stories about me, using my name and photo.
I'm really stuck on what to do and could really use some advice!
Hi there
If you doubt the child is yours and she contacts the CSA (now the CMS) when they contact you, you must tell them that you are disputing parentage but she is refusing to test the child. They will then contact her and ask her to agree to the test, if she refuses, they will close the case. If she agrees you will have to pay for the test and they will set up a payment plan which you would have to start paying, however if the result comes back that you are not the father, they will repay you for the test and any payment you've made.
Child Maintenance can only start from the point that she opens a claim and they contact you, she can't get it back dated for before that.
She has gone to the press? Really? That's sound a bit implausible to me and just more of her threats to try and get you do what she wants.
All the best
Hello Help101
The Child Support Agency (CSA) stopped accepting applications for child maintenance in 2013. So if mum makes an application for a statutory child maintenance arrangement, it will be handled by the new service, called the Child Maintenance Service.
Usually when a case is opened with the Child Maintenance Service, they will ask the person named if they accept that they are the child's parent. As you have suspicions you may not be the child’s parent, they will ask for evidence proving this. If you do not have sufficient evidence, they can ask both of you to take a DNA test or ask the courts to make a decision regarding parentage. You can find out more about what happens when someone denies they are the parent of a child and DNA testing, on the Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/disagreements-about-parentage and https://www.gov.uk/dna-testing-parentage-disagreements.
To reiterate what Mojo mentioned, if an application is made to the Child Maintenance Service, any responsibility you will have to pay will start from around the point you are contacted by them, which means you can be reassured to know that it cannot be backdated to prior to them contacting you.
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 at http://www.cmoptions.org.
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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