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I divorced in 2008 and have one child now aged 12 and as part of the Divorce agreement a monthly maintenance was calculated at £400 based on my salary at that time. I have since lost my business and was declared bankrupt in 2010. I have struggled to meet the payments and I am getting into debt as a result. I have tried to reduce the amount to £200 but this has been unsuccessful.
Can I have a judgement made on how much I should be paying based on my current earnings?
Hi There,
How was the agreement made?
If it was written in court as part of the divorce then it would over rule what the CSA could order and they can't act until any order made by court has expired or been changed.
If it was an agreement made informally between you then you "could" just instructions to CSA to calculate and collect payment, though this could make your ex react. You need to do something though as you can't keep going as you are.
To find out what the CSA would calculate search CSA calculator on Google and fill out your wage details and number of nights you have your child over night and it will tell you what amount they would instruct you to pay.
Hope this helps
Darren
I'll add to Darren's comments - I think the once the court order has been in place for 12 months, then you can ask the CSA to take the case. I'll ask the expert from Child Maintenance Options to clarify, so keep checking back
Hi, I'm Sarah, a Child Maintenance Options consultant.
You can ask the CSA to calculate a new child maintenance amount (and take over the arrangement) if:
- the current court order was made after March 2003 (if you divorced in 2008 then it probably was)
- the court order is over 12 months old (again, it sounds like this is the case for you)
Bear in mind that if you go down this route, the CSA will only take over the child maintenance part of the court order - other areas, for example spousal maintenance, are not affected by the CSA's involvement.
Having said all this, if your court order is stopped then perhaps you could speak to your ex-partner about making a family-based arrangement. Family-based arrangements give you the flexibility to agree how much child maintenance is paid and when, and to change your agreement as your children get older or your circumstances change. Many parents prefer to arrange child maintenance this way.
For more information about family-based arrangements and access to useful tools and forms online you can visit www.cmoptions.org, or if you'd prefer a confidential chat you could call the Child Maintenance Options team on 0800 988 0988 (free from a landline).
If you need some more information about where you stand legally, it might be worth contacting Community Legal Advice. Their helpline number is 0845 345 4345.
In the meantime, I suggest that you keep paying the recommended amount, as you have been doing. Make sure you keep a record of any payments you make.
I hope this information has helped,
Sarah.
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