Hi,
I have a court order from 2011 which states that child maintenance will continue until my daughter, 'reaches age 18 or finishes her full time tertiary education whichever is later'. However, in 2019 my ex registered a case with CMS to calculate payments. I currently pay around £800/month. My daughter is about to finish college and go to Uni in September. I believe CMS will tell me to stop making payment to my ex at that point.
My question is: is my ex able to switch back to the original court order so that takes over from CMS, so I'll have to make payments until my daughter finishes university?
On a related note, the ex isn't planning to contribute to uni. fees/living costs, she'll just pocket the payments for herself. I'd rather provide financial support to my daughter directly.
Any comments/advise gratefully received!
I was under the impression that the CMS supercedes the court order, and this seems to confirm:
It does state that your ex could go back to court, but she would effectively be starting again, and at worst case, you could possibly try to get the order made so that you are making payments direct to your daughter, not to your ex, but the court may simply dismiss the case and tell you to make your own arrangments with your daughter.
If you do make payments to your daughter, make it very clear on the payment reference what it is for, so if you did need to prove in court that you are making payments, you have that reference to show them.
@actd Thanks for your response. Makes sense, and I hope that's the case.
There is a further post on the link though, which seems to confuse matters:
If you were to set up a case with the Child Maintenance Service and then close it, the old court order would still be void. This doesn’t avoid a new application to the court being made for a new Consent Order of course, but you would not automatically go back to the old Consent Order. It would, in effect, be like starting from scratch.
Where the court makes an order in relation to the finances, that order remains unless it is varied or dismissed.
The family court has jurisdiction to make an order in relation to child maintenance only for 12 months. After the 12 months either party can apply to the CMS for an assessment.
The remainder of the financial order remains binding - no involvement from the CMS can affect that.
Charles
So now I'm unsure???
I am guessing (and it is only a guess) that this would apply to orders that aren't related to child maintenance, so an order for maintenance to your ex wife that aren't child related. I would recommend that you get a quick session with a solicitor - you may be able to get a free 30 minute consult, but if not, paying for 30 minutes could be a good investment.