My son turned 18 in October last year. I stopped paying his Mother in December. She works part time & claims benefit assistance. my son is in college 3 days a week which his mother gets a small allowance . My son also works part time & earns approximately £70 a week.
I have a good relationship with my son & I pay his mobile phone & I am now sorting out driving lessons & a car etc. I don't want to get into a [censored] fight with his Mother about maintenance payments.....again..... Any advice ????????.
Do I still have to pay her maintenance ????
Hi
If your son's course is more than 12 hours per week, and it's not advanced education, then your ex will still be receiving child benefit and you are still liable for maintenance. You can try to sort out a family based arrangement with your ex to reduce the maintenance because of what you pay already, but if she doesn't agree, then she can open a case with the CSA, in which case the bills you pay would not count towards the maintenance.
Hello Jerry007
Thank you for your post. I am William, the Child Maintenance Options consultant. You would like to know if you still have to pay child maintenance.
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.
The definition of full-time education is more than 12 hours a week of study, on a course up to and including A level standard. Some examples of non-advanced education are:
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
You can find further information about this from the following link: https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-16-19/education.
You have mentioned in your post that you have stopped child maintenance payments but you do pay for your son's mobile phone contract and driving lessons. If you made your child maintenance payments through a family-based arrangement before your son turned 18, you could continue with this and include what you currently pay for him as long as you and your son's mother agree to this. A family-based arrangement is not legally binding but it gives you and your son's mother the flexibility to change your agreement if you need to.
We have a calculator available which you can use to help renegotiate your family based arrangement. This is on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/calculator.asp.
If you want some help planning your conversation or talking to your son's mother about money, we have a "discussion guide" to help you. We also have a family-based arrangement form and although this is not a legally enforceable document, it can put your agreement on a more formal basis. You can find these on our website at www.cmoptions.org.
We have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful, it offers help and support to separated families. You can find this at: http://www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.
To find out more about your child maintenance options you can visit: http://www.cmoptions.org. Alternatively, if you would prefer a friendly and confidential chat, please give the team a call on 0800 988 0988.