CSA/Maintenance Question?

[Rhibox]

My brother and his girlfriend have recently split up (she left the relationship) and they have an 18 month old child. Things are starting to turn not so amicable between them and the arguing over who pays what has started.

 

What I would like to know is....

if his son is with him half the week and her half the week does he still have to pay her maintenance as she seems to think she is entitled to £50 per week from him?

He currently buys whatever the child needs, she asks for clothes, food, toys and now she has asked for a cot, buggy etc! All these things he has in his house which HE paid for when they were together. (her name isnt on the mortgage as it was bought before they got together)

Now if he has all these thing in his house when he has his son does he have to provide her with these things? As he questioned this with her and she told him she is entitled to ask £50 a week from him!

 

Anyone with any info or personal experience would be much appreciated as he wants to sort it out as amicably as possible!

Thanks!

[CAGisforME]

Oh dear - that old word "Amicable".

 

Obviously this can only be achieved if BOTH parties want it that way.

 

If she has left the property of her own free will then, as it's his property, she is only entitled to take with her those things which are HER property. However, I think that things like the Cot etc would be deemed the child's property.

 

Whilst I'm sure that there are some very very knowledgeable folks on this site I really think your son should go to a Solicitor as soon as possible. Not only to protect his property, as she may claim she has a beneficial interest, but because he needs to ensure any arrangements for the child are written in stone.

 

He can work out what he should be paying by going to the CSA website. It's fairly simple to work it out and takes into account how often the child is with him etc etc

 

CSA Homepage - Child Support Agency

 

From personal experience he will still have to pay even if the child is with him half the week/year.

 

Advise your son not to get into the "it's mine" argument, but to consult a solicitor asap. Yes, it will cost money, but it's obviously important to get it all sorted from a legal standpoint.

 

However, saying that, such things as buggies and toys can surely be shared? Obviously neither of them need these things when the child isn't with them! It's important to demonstrate that you are being "reasonable" and that would be a start.

 

I hope it all works out.

 

[myboyelvis]

Hi Rhibox,

 

I am sure that the CSA reduces the amount of the childs maintenance depending on the amount on days per week they share with both parents. I agree go onto the CSA website and speak to them.

[leetwin]

hi can anybody advise me please about csa,my sons dad when we split up was diagnoised with schzophinia so he couldnt work,therefor he was on benifits,the csa said he owes nothing and i thought if the father was on benifits the csa pays £5 a week..the father died of heart desease last year and my son is now aged 9..im writing this thread about the csa not the loss of my sons father as nobody can help being ill,as i read in the paper today a child aged 11 is suing the csa for money they kept from her.can anybody tell me if the csa does owes me any money or do they have to make payments if the father is deceased as the csa have a number of complaints???kind regards

[emma81]

As far as i was awear depending on the nature of the illness or the reasons your ex partner was on benefits effects the way maintenance is calculated i think that if he was not working due to him being ill then there is nothing you can do have a look at CSA Homepage - Child Support Agency it will give you all the answers.

[emma81]

Rhibox, you can get a discount if you look after the child more than 52 nights a year, i know this as my partner has just been stung by the CSA the only bad thing is they then contact the EX partner to check this out and if she says no you dont have her more than 52 nights a year then your stuffed they will take her word every time without fail! As for the you have to pay £50 per week it depends on what you earn tell her that you want it done properly through the CSA or come to a mutual agreement ie £100 per month makesure also if you give her money you do it through your bank acc so you can keep a record because believe me bitter ex's can be very spiteful and say to the CSA you've have never paid anything and you dont want that to come back and bite you on the bum! If you get her to agree you have the child more than 52 nights a year then great if not then keep a note on a diary everytime you have them as then you can send to the CSA should she take that route to prove you have had them.

[nmp]

I also need some advice about the CSA and I am not quite sure who to ask! There doesnt seem to be any support groups out there at all. I dont know if any of you have ever had to deal with the CSA as the "non resident parent" but I have to say - its absolutely awful. When I say awful - I mean dreadful. I have been paying child support through mutual agreement between myself and my ex for the past 7 years. All of a sudden out of the blue I got a letter sent to my employer (then delivered to me from the HR department - how embrarssing) saying that I needed to fill out forms because my childs mother has filed a claim for them to collect child support. I called the CSA straight away and they told me that they had got details of my earnings from my employer and that they have already worked out my payments! She told me that I had to start paying tripple the amount that I have always paid. They were s rude. Wouldnt answer a single question about how they made the decision. Apparently the new legislation in 2003 says that its a flat 15% and they take into consideration no other circumstances, debt outgoings etc. Travel costs to get my child is expensive!!! When we first broke up my ex did goto the CSA and for a very shot while I was paying money through them - this was pre 2003 so it was assessed under the old rules. There guidelines say that they should use the old legislation if it is not a new case - my arguement is that it is not a new case!! as they did an assessment in 2002. Which my ex closed in 2003.

 

Furthermore the assessment that they have just done has been based on my last 2 wage slips...both of which has overtime on it (which is unsual as I never do overtime) so they have based the weekly rate on those earnings!!!

 

My ex has denied that I the child more than 50 day a year so I cant apply for shared care to claim a little reduction!!!

 

They now tell me that if I dont complete the Debit Debit mandate within 5 days they will do a datachement of earnings on my salary immediately.

 

I really dont know what to do!? There is no one who supports fathers!!!!!

[JACKDANIELS51]

the past year for me has been unbelievable.. i always paid my ex weekly,

1 day i get a letter off the csa, because they had a deduction from earnings order i had to start paying £450 per month as an interim payment, which basically left me with roughly around £300 left of my wages.

this continued for 3 months till they reviewed my case.

i told them i have my kids between 2-3 days a week, they rang my ex only for her to say i have them once a week, basically that was the end of the story nothing i said mattered, they just took her word just like that..

in october last year after paying csa for bout 7 months i had to give up my flat as i was getting into to much arrears and didnt see anyway out..

i now live with my partner and her 2 kids, my kids still stay with me every weekend..

yesterday we recieved a letter off the csa wanting to know my partners income.. as u can imagine my partner has been pretty upset/angry since.. i spoke to the csa and they claim that my ex has asked them to look into her income.. i challenged this with the csa and they said that im on the old system.. if i was on the new system they wouldnt ask for her income...

the past year has been hell and now i feel like iv dragged my partner in aswell.. theres nothing we can do to change this which now has my partner thinking about leaving the job she loves...

csa is a shocking unfair organisation who treat good fair fathers the same as the ones that dont give a toss which is just wrong..

me and my partner are now at breaking point with seperation looming..

my ex is like satan and the csa are the little demons working for her.. fathers for justice have my vote...

[Jesteruk]

JD i wish you all the best.

Last year i ended up quiting my job because CSA were slapping me for 40% of my income depsite having a disabled wife and her 2 children, yet they couldnt find their father!!

 

They wont take your living costs into consideration, BUT housing and council tax benefit will take into consideration that your paying the CSA & will offer you a reduction in C Tax

 

You mention about them wanting your partners income details, Now this is the hypocrytical part.......They will not include your ex's new partners income if she had one in there workings.

 

I found the best way to deal with the CSA is to go direct to your Local MP. Once he has stuck his/her nose in then your case will be moved to the Falkirk office, where i found them actually helpful (yes i know amazing)

again i wish you the best

Edited July 10, 2009 by Jesteruk
fat fingers

[Archway]

The CSA, what a wonderful organisation...

 

They take 15% of your earnings, no consideration whatsoever is given to ANYTHING else, mortgage, rent, debts, nothing.

 

I used to put money through the door every week in an envelope, she told the CSA I didn't. CSA believed her and wanted extra from me to make up the money I was supposed to have not paid.

 

I refused to back down, I told them I would pack my job in, sell my property, I had over 100K of equity then, and move back to Ireland. I also showed them bank statements where I had taken exactly the amount I was giving her, from the ATM around the corner from her house. It took a few months, but they eventually backed down.

 

Then they wanted to change how often I paid them. At that time, I was paying every four weeks, their system couldn't cope, not my problem I told them.

 

Another battle ensued with me again refusing to back down, threatening to sell my flat, which by this time had 120K of equity, and packing my job in. They again backed down after another very protracted argument.

 

Through the CSA, I actually ended up paying less than I was by paying direct to boitch number one. They have a very hard job to do, but they do seem to take the mothers side every single time, which is grossly unfair.

 

And I also found the lack of support for guys in my position frightening. If you're in debt, sites like this are a godsend, but with the csa, there's very little support.

[Archway]

One other thing that used to really **** me off with the csa. They always seemed to go for the easy targets.

 

Two very close female friends supplied the details of their ex's to the CSA. They, to this day, have never acted on the info supplied, which included NI numbers, addresses, proof of earnings etc. I know, I used to help them type up the letters.

[Jesteruk]

I know what you mean, my ex wanted 250 per month so i set it up as standing order, she wasnt too happy when i wanted reduced payments, so I contacted the csa, told i only had to pay £135 per month. yet i ended up gettin hit for 40% because the employer was not paying CSA. and ended up with a court summons! Great.

But the best bit was i found out last week that my son has not lived with her for over year! - So i wonder if they wanna pay me back them?? - i doubt it! LOL

 

oh well 2 years to go!! LOL

[Jesteruk]

LMAO!

my wife was asked to go and find out the registration numbers of the vehicles her ex drives, they cant find him, 5 years he has avoided. Yet i cant see how they can miss him, we have given, Car details, employer details (including payroll number) even provided a copy of his entry on the registars poll, and they cant find him...more like cant be bothered...

oh well think this is going off track - time for bed......

[Archway]

LMAO!

my wife was asked to go and find out the registration numbers of the vehicles her ex drives, they cant find him, 5 years he has avoided. Yet i cant see how they can miss him, we have given, Car details, employer details (including payroll number) even provided a copy of his entry on the registars poll, and they cant find him...more like cant be bothered...

oh well think this is going off track - time for bed......

 

Heading for bed shortly myself, isn't night shift a killer.

 

You're right Jester about them not bothering, they had every piece of information possible, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles could have found these guys, and they have been living at the same addresses for over 15 years, but the CSA couldn't for some unknown reason

[Archway]

Just one quick question.

 

How much of what we pay actually gets to our children through the CSA?

 

Anyone know????

[ErikaPNP]

All I know is that every penny I get goes straight to my children. When ex is not imitating a magician by doing a disapearing act, that is. From what I have read of what other PWC get, they are very lucky compared to what I receive. I see some getting hundreds a month - I wish!!

 

All I wanted was £15 a week, and that's all I requested when we seperated - I was willing to negotiate the figure. Seemingly that was too much to ask of him and he refused to pay it, he also refused to buy things instead - which is something else I tried to negotiate on so that at least then he could buy something for them know it was for them and approve of it. HE still refused to contribut towards their support in any shape, way or form so after a year I unleashed the CSA on him.

 

I have had to chase the CSA up a few times and do my own detective work but got there in the end. At least until he disappears again, or goes to prison whichever comes first.

[hillards]

As I said in another thread (http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-knowledge/191758-csa-arrears-how-prepare.html), don't hold your breath waiting for the CSA to do anything because you ask your MP to get involved.

 

It's been over 10 years since my MP was given an assurance that they would deal with the case as a matter of urgency!

 

It's looking like they are finally getting somewhere, after several montsh at the Falkirk office, and I'll then be back under the enforcement team as there are some very old arrears outstanding, so they say.

 

It's not always the mother's who get a rough deal!

[Salukix]

When our useless Labour government introduced ehe CSA did they really thnk it through properly? How many women now know that they can a child away from it's father, yet still recieve money. My former partner has poisoned my youngest daughters mind against me. The mother is pushing 40 and has yet to work, thinks she is more than entitled to go abroad on holiday. If we still had the family court deciding on maintenance, and women knowing that prevention of a father seeing his child would mean stop cash, maybe more children in the UK would have regular contact with both parents. Pity that this cannot be raised with a legal rep, and maybe action taken against the Labour Party.

[mtboutdoor]

My wife's ex husband has their 2 children living with him and she has been paying maintenance (not via csa) paying him by cheque every month.In sept 2009 she became a fulltime student however she also works 1 day every weekend with a monthly net income of max £400. Her ex is demanding £120 per month threatening that if he doesn't get it he will contact the benefits office / csa who according to him will take my wages into account.my son from my previous marraige lives with us and my wifes kids stay over every week at least 1 night. My question: is my wife's student bursary taken into account as well as my wages ??

[loopinlouie]

I know they take the wages of my exs partner into account, dont know about the bursary, someone will come along soon. My ex pays over 500.00 a month through csa for two kiddies. Advice should come soon. It would be best to avoid csa if can help it:)

[loopinlouie]

At least you are still talking, but said its being said in threatening manner

[Salukix]

When the parties come round before the general election, ask them how they stand on the CSA.

[hillards]

...ask them how they stand on the CSA.

...and offer a few pairs of size 9 hobnailed boots!

[Salukix]

Yes sounds good to me.

[Ladybenj]

It's not just absent fathers, there are absent mothers too. I left my ex-husband and he stayed in the marital home (he paid me out for £5K) but for nearly 15 years I'd paid all the bills and he paid for the shopping. As I was the one that wanted to leave I didn't think it right to make him leave the marital home, so I bought a small property for our son and me and we were amicable. During this time I didn't ask for maintenance only for his school dinners to be paid for. We resumed our relationship and I pretty much moved back to the marital home and transferred schools etc for our son who was 5 at the time, and also kept my own house. We discovered at this time that the marriage was actually over and I moved back to my own house, but did leave my son with his dad. The reasons for this was he'd changed his working patterns to weekends and so to make sure that we got equal access I had our son from Thursday - Monday and this meant that neither of us had to worry about childcare. I started a relationship with my now husband and he also started another relationship. This is when the problems started - the access started to get reduced from weekly to three times a week and then fortnightly then once a month.

 

I received a call (whilst on holiday) from the CSA saying that he'd then raised a claim against me and although I wasn't paying maintenance, our son got everything he needed. I provided clothes, shoes, school uniform, etc - and my ex used to ask for these and I would oblige - he earned more than I did. The CSA worked out my payments which left me overdrawn every month (I had childcare for my new child to pay as I have always worked) but they wouldn't listen to anything I had to say. You can't put your point of view across, they don't offer any advice, there's just no speaking to them. I was made redundant and stopped paying immediately. They told me that there was arrears of £400 (all the people that owe thousands) and was told that if I didn't pay the outstanding amount in one go, then they would send in the bailiffs. I had no income, no benefits, my husband was paying all the other bills, including his own maintenance bill, leaving us with nothing. I had no choice other than to use some of my sons savings that I had also been putting away as I knew he wouldn't be getting any of this money. They were having holidays, new car, work on the house done. I didn't go back to work and received a letter from them saying that the case was closed and that he would have to re-apply if he wanted the CSA to obtain maintenance again.

 

We moved away from the area and I have no contact with my son who is now nearly 14. I wrote to my ex saying that I wanted to return to work but couldn't do it if the CSA was involved because I couldn't afford to due to the amount of bills and could we come to some agreement. I never heard anything back from him and as we have a house on the market in the old area, which we are having trouble selling, and also the one that we are renting and these both still have to be paid for I had no choice other than to work. I didn't contact the CSA as I'd received the original letter saying case closed and now they've written to me, with all my employment details, wages, etc right back to last year. They want £47 a week from me - not a vast amount and don't mind paying this at all - but there's obviously going to now be arrears on this - we're paying for two properties - one reduced so much that we'll make nothing from the sale but just to get rid of it, but can't due to the housing market - so two sets of bills, an already large maintenance bill and already working on a budget so that we can afford shopping at the end of the week, I just won't be able to afford the monthly amount and know that they won't accept anything I say and will expect at least the arrears paying off straight away - where do I go from here I ask myself? My only positive thought in this is my son can't wait to leave school and I know he'll do this as soon as his leaving date comes around. I don't want to give his savings up to my ex husband as arrears but if they demand it, what can I do? Do they even take into consideration that maintenance is paid for another child from a previous marraige? I can't seem to find any answers on this one.