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Hi Forum.
I am having an issue with my ex wife and the CSA.
Fot the last year I have been paying £475 a month ( which I struggled to pay ) for my 2 children this was agreed by our solicitors for a period of 1 year.
I have had my new calculation from the CSA which is £363 a month, this takes in to accout that I have my 2 children fro more than 52 nights and that I have 1 child in residence with my new partner.
My Ex now says that I can no longer have them for more that 50 nights , this will push my payments up to £429 a month.
my question is can she do that ? last year I had my children for 68 nights, I want to continue seeing them as much as possible but cant afford to keep paying out so much money.
The CSA says there is nothing they can do if she wants to reduce the amount of night I have my girls.
Any ideas ?
Hi there,
Do you have a Contact Order?... if not, did you come to an agreement over contact through the solicitor after seperation/divorce proceedings?...If you did then perhaps you should get your solicitor to write to her to ask the reasons for the reduction in contact and remind her of the agreement that was reached betweeen you. Point out that it would not be in the interests of the children to cut their contact with you, and that if she persists with this, you would have no choice but to take her to court and ask that a defined Contact Order be made. You could also remind her that a court would take a very dim view of the children being used for financial gain.
If no such agreement was made and you cant speak to her about it, then you could try mediation...if that doesnt work or isn't an option then you can apply to the courts for a C100, which is a contact order. There is a sticky at the beginning of this section.
Good luck with everything.
If you don't have a contact order, then it's something you should consider - however, you could try mediation first.
If you do go for a contact order, read yoji's guide to representing yourself at the top of the legal eagle section. A court will not normally want contact reduced - the CSA calculation currently will be some proof that you have currently had more than 52 days per year. The courts also wouldn't be too happy if they thought that contact was being reduced for financial reasons.
Hi I agree with both of the above, push back and state that your children shouldn't be used just to keep payments higher.
I was in this situation last year and after court I have now managed to resolve this so that the CSA now acknowledge my son stays with me for the level I have told them. This was due to having the court order in place for a number of months before asking them to re assess the amount I pay. I did this as it would then show that there was a patern and that my ex was sticking to the order.
Darren
If you're struggling for money, I would see whether you can get any support with the costs involved in using a mediation service.
If you can't, I would go straight to court for a contact order citing the fact that mediation wasn't an option as it was cost prohibitive. Make sure to state that the only reason you can see for the reduction in contact is that the mother wants increase her income from your child maintanence payments.
As the guys have already mentioned, a court is unlikely to reduce the contact you have enjoyed and will, in all likelihood, restore it to the level that it was at previously. She doesn't really have a leg to stand on unless she can argue that she some genuine welfare concerns. She won't have, but be prepared for her to play that card anyway.
Good luck!
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