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I divorced in 2004 and a court order stipulated that I should pay my ex-wife £500 a month (to be increased with inflation - which I did) maintenance for our 2 children, until the end of their tertiary education (uni?).
A couple of years ago, after I had a couple of pay rises, remarried and had 2 more kids, my ex-wife went to the CSA and asked them to take over maintenance payments, which they did, and I now pay more than the court order stipulated.
My question is, the CSA stipulate that maintenance should be paid until the end of secondary education (and I presume will only take car of the maintenance arrangement through them until this time). Because the CSA have over-ruled the court order in terms of how much I pay, does the CSA ruling also over-rule the length of time I should pay for?
I am happy to continue contributing the same amount whilst (if) my children go through university; however when they turn 18 / finish secondary school, I would like to pay it to them directly to support themselves through further education, not to my ex-wife whom I believe would not pass on the full amount.
Thanks for any advice
Hopefully, one of the mods will pass this on to the Childrens Legal Centre for comment, so keep checking back here.
Hi CM62
My understanding is that if you make maintenance payments through the CSA you are only obliged to pay until the child reaches the age of 18 but I will pass your question on to the Children's Legal Centre for their response.
Also, welcome to Dadtalk! Hope you are going to find it helpful and informative.
Hi Mikey
Yep, you are right that the CSA only collect up to age 18 (or until the September following the end of full time education secondary I think), but I'm not sure whether this supercedes the court order, or whether the court order can be re-instated once the CSA are no longer involved - definitely would be interested in the CLC opinion on this.
Hi - any idea if the CLC have had a chance to have a look / could advise on this? Many thanks
Hi again CM62
I am sorry you haven't received a reply to your question. I have checked back through my emails and sent a request to CLC on 15th April. For some reason it seems to have been overlooked. I have resent your original post today and I hope you'll get a reply soonest.
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