[Solved] Advice

Please see the following link -

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/keep-up-to-date/when-child-aged-16/child-16.htm

You are no longer obliged to continue paying maintenance through the CSA so I would contact them immediately to let them know there has been a change of circumstance.

They will of course contact the mother of your child to verify this chance so it will depend on her being willing to comply.

The CSA are not the easiest organisation to deal with so my not be as straight forward as it would appear.

Best of luck and let us know how you get on.

Lloyd

Hi,

I have just contacted CSA and they said that I will still have to pay if she's still claiming benefits but how can she still claim benefits when he's isn't doing anything????

They said I still might have to pay because he MIGHT want to join education next year ???[censored]??? does that mean if he doesn't do anything next year I get the back dated money ? DOUBT IT( I would be willing to pay again next year if he goes into something like college but why should I be paying HER now !)

?????????

This is the thing that really pi$$es me off about the CSA.

Maybe one of the more senior members can advise?

Does your son intend to get a job? I really don't know where you stand in your situation but I would be good to understand what the rules are exactly.

I suppose if your son does not intend to work and you ex is still able to claim child benefit for him you may still be liable for maintenance until he gets a paid job or enters the benefit system himself?

Just come across this:

Under the child support legislation, regular child maintenance payments must be made until a child is 16 years old, or 20 if they are in full-time, non-advanced education (A-level or equivalent), or for as long as Child Benefit is being paid.

Education must be full-time (more than an average of 12 hours’ supervised study a week during term time) and ‘non-advanced’. This includes:

GCSEs
A levels
iGCSEs
Pre-U
International Baccalaureate
NVQ/SVQ level 1, 2 or 3
BTEC National Diploma, National Certificate and First Diploma
SCE higher grade or similar

It does not include ‘advanced’ education, eg:

A degree
Diploma of Higher Education
NVQ level 4 or above
BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC)
Teacher training

Until she stops claiming child benefit then it looks like your stuck for the time being....

Thanks Lloyd,

I 'm still unsure how she can claim benefit for him when he's 16 and left school and not doing anything at all and hasn't lived with her for over 10 years. I spoke to CSA and asked who made the claim & they said it was her, surely she defrauding the system (& not a very good system at that)!!!

It sounds like fraud to me! But it's whether you want to report her to the them, as you say your son is close to his mother....you could do it anonymously via the benefit fraud line.

I agree - in this case, it isn't the CSA's fault as they are following the rules, which in this case, are quite fair. The fault lies solely with your ex who is defrauding the system.

You have to take the positive out of the situation as little ad it is!

At least you only have 2 or so years left before your son becomes an adult in his own right and you will be waving the CSA goodbye 🙂

You have been well and truely shafted by the system that has allow your ex partner to claim money from you which I very much doubt is being used to your sons benefit.

Hi Goodsey

Thank you for your post, I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. The information that I`Am`Lloyd has provided is correct, under child support legislation, regular child maintenance payments must be made until a child is 16 years old, or 20 if they are in full-time, non-advanced education (A-level or equivalent), or for as long as Child Benefit is being paid.

In addition, if arrears have built up on a case, those arrears must still be paid, even if regular child maintenance payments have stopped.

Also, anyone aged 16 or 17 who is not in education, is not working and does not receive employment related benefits, is also defined as a child. For further information you may wish to use the following link, https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-16-19.

You have mentioned that your son has been living with his grandparents for the past ten years, however, your ex-partner has still been receiving the Child Benefit and child maintenance. The Child Benefit is paid to the parent or guardian with main day-to-day of a child. As Mojo has stated you may wish to report your ex-partner to Benefit Fraud as she is still in receipt of the Child Benefit for your son, whilst he is not residing with her.

We 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.

If you would a confidential chat with Child Maintenance Options team or find out more about all the options available for child maintenance, you can call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on Saturday, alternatively you can visit our website at http://www.cmoptions.org.

William