[Solved] Child Maintenance - A Rare Agreement Perhaps?

What is your daughter doing now she's 18 - if she's at university or has a job, then child benefit should no longer be being paid, in which case you are not liable.

She is at college which I believe is A level as she opted for this rather than 6 form.

Going to Uni next year

Thanks for the reply

Hello Chris, my names William and I'm a Child Maintenance Options Consultant. I thought I'd try and clarify a few things for you. As you've mentioned, due to you having a family-based arrangement in place with your ex-wife, it's up to you both to discuss and negotiate when your payments will stop. There are no set rules or formulas to stick to. Your family-based arrangement gives you the flexibility to agree between you both who will receive the child maintenance and for how long.

With regard to your ex-wife being able to make a new application with the Child Support Agency (CSA), this would depend upon whether your daughter is classed as a child for child maintenance purposes. As the moderator has mentioned, if your ex-wife is still being paid Child Benefit for your daughter, then this is a good indicator. The CSA rules say that child maintenance must be paid by the non-resident parent to the parent with care until the child turns 16 or until they reach 20 if they are in full-time education (not higher than A-level equivalent). Bear in mind that in some cases, children are still classed as being in education until the start of the new educational year (usually September), Child Benefit generally runs to this point also. So with regard to your original post, and as you've clarified that your daughter is 18 and studying for her A-levels, your ex-wife would be able to make an application with the CSA. If your ex-wife was to make a new application, your responsibility to pay would generally start from the point that the CSA contact you.

You may wish to confirm this information with the CSA directly, as we are a different organisation to them. You can find their contact details using the following link, https://www2.dwp.gov.uk/csa/v2/en/contact/index.asp.

For more information about family-based arrangements and access to useful tools and forms online you can visit http://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).

Thanks so much William, much appreciated

Regards

Chris

Hi Chris/William

This is Matt

I have a similar problem to this but with a twist

My first wife left me when my daughter was 3 years old.I pai voluntary maintenance for about 3 years.
She then moved towns to be with another man and after fighting through the courts,I received weekend access
This was always difficult and countless obstacles were used to deny access

My daughter stayed with my ex wifes grandmother regularly and after a while i got better acess from her
This eventually led to my daughter living with her grandmother full time and I verbally agreed to pay maintenance
directly into the grandmothers bank account until my daughter was 18.

This happened 27th Nov 2012 and I made my last payment on 5th Dec 2012

She has contacted me through my daughters phone and wants me to pay longer as my daughter is at college

I have refused and they are threatening Court or CSA

My ex wife tried this before but CSA would not open a case as she was not the Primary carer

As the conditions are still the same,What rights does the granmother have ?

Thank you

Matt

I think that the grandmother might be able to ask the CSA to open a case, I'm not sure about this, so may be worth speaking to the CSA directly.

Hi Matt

Thank you for your post. I'm William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. With you previously having a family-based arrangement with your daughter's grandmother you may wish to discuss and negotiate the maintenance payments for your daughter. If you can't come to an agreement with your daughter's grandmother, you may want to follow the guidelines set by the Child Support Agency (CSA). 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 education (A-level or equivalent), or for as long as Child Benefit is being paid.

There is a new web application, sorting out separation. It aims to make it much easier for separating and separated parents (and childless couples) to find the support they need, when and where they need it, and encourages them to collaborate on a range of issues. The link is http://www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.

As Child Maintenance Options and the CSA are separate organisations, you may also wish to contact them directly to see if they would open a case in your circumstances and for clarification on when maintenance is payable up to. You can find the right number here: https://www2.dwp.gov.uk/csa/v2/en/contact/index.asp.

For more information about family-based arrangements, the other types of maintenance 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).

Hope this helps.

William