Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
I have got a child from previous relationship, she is 6 years old now and me and her mum split up when she was still pregnant ( we have never been married), My daughter doesn't know I am her father, she is being raised my my ex and her partner who she calls DAD
I have been paying maintenance money ever since my ex was pregnant and this is what we agreed between ourselves
Recently I have found out that my name is not bearing on her birth certificate instead there is a "father unknown", which means I have no PR and also I have never ever been included in any decisions in regards my daughter life. I know I can apply for PR but don't want to destroy my girls childhood and I am stranger for her
I just want to know if in this case is it legal that my ex claims support money from me if I I got no PR and I'm "father unknown"
Please help
Hi
Yes, as you are the father, you are liable for maintenance - it is not dependant on PR or contact. If you are paying more than the CSA calculation (basically, 15% of takehome - less if you have other children) then you could reduce your payment to this and there isn't a great deal your ex could do about it
Hi Marcel
Thank you for your post, I am William the Child Maintenance Options. If you are a child's father you have a legal responsibility to financially support your daughter. In the eyes of the law, it does not matter that you are not on the birth certificate. It can be a difficult situation but you should try to sort things out amicably with her mother, which you have mentioned you have already done. If you refuse, your daughter's mother has the option of getting the Statutory Scheme or the courts involved. This could be avoided if you sort things out with her direct. For further information on the above, you may wish to speak to the Statutory Scheme directly. Alternatively, you can visit their website at http://www.gov.uk/childmaintenance.
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
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.