Hi,
I have been divorced for 12 years. My son lives with his mother and I pay monthly child support to her. We have a family based agreement in place - there has never been a need for anything formal. The agreement has not changed much over time, apart from increasing payments in line with pay rises etc.
My son is turning 18 in June. He is currently at college and will finish an extended BTEC, which is equivalent to A-Level as far as I understand, in June.
Once he completes this course, he will stay at college and enroll at another course there. This course is also at BTEC level as he doesn't feel ready for a job or university at this stage.
My assumption always was that I would pay child support until he either starts work or finishes his A-Levels or equivalent. However, I'm not sure what the rules are for this situation. He's reached A-Level standard, but now drops back down a level. So how would you see this? Do you think I would be within my rights to stop paying child support to his mother this summer?
I was also thinking that I could stop paying his mother and replace the payment to her with a monthly payment to my son directly. He is 18, after all, so needs to learn to manage his own money at some point. This would have the huge advantage that I could stop communicating with his mother, which is a huge challenge as the relationship between us is very, very tricky.
Any suggestions / advice?
Thanks
TrickyBusiness
As he isn't moving into advanced education (ie a degree) your ex is entitled to claim child benefit still, and that means that you are still liable for child maintenance until he is 20 or goes into work or advanced education. You could try to negotiate with your ex that some or all of the payment should be put into an account for your son.
It depends. If he has just finished his BTEC at that age I would think his just done a level 2 or 3. The next BTEC would be BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC)
This doesn't qualify for CSA, so you won't have to pay
Check which one his taking
The BTEC, National Certificate and 1st Diploma still means CSA has to be paid
The BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC)
Doesn't as it's classed as advanced education
Ignore my response - Huxley is more knowledgeable on this than I am 🙂
Hi both,
Sorry about the delayed response - I didn't get the notifications 🙁
The BTEC my son is finishing in June is a BTEC Extended Diploma Level 3.
The BTEC he is starting in September is a level below that - BTEC Diploma Level 3.
Does it matter that I don't pay through CSA, but have a 'family based' arrangement?
Thanks
TrickyBusiness
Why would he start a course lower than the ones his previously just finished that doesn't make sense
A level 3 I'm sure is classed as non advanced, which means CSA would still be payable
... because he hated the course he's just finishing (Art) and is moving to a different subject (Music Technology). They won't let him enter at a higher level as his Art course hasn't really taught him any transferable skills.... We're lucky he's finishing the first course, we're been waiting for him to throw in the towel for the last 6 months at least 😉
Thanks for the advice! I'll try to have a chat with the ex to get her to agree that my son should learn to manage at least some of the money himself - let's see how that goes. He'll have to learn sooner or later.
Thanks!