:huh:
Hi All I hope someone can help.
My son's DOB is Jan 1994, I have trawled the net and am coming up with different answers of when my payments should stop. Even the CSA state two differing ages dependant on the web page you visit. Some state the school ending month of his 18th year, some say 19th birthday, and the latest CSA one states 20 years old?
He is in education as far as I know....
Some advice would be appreciated
Hi Skip
Its 20 I'm afraid...the rules changed in December. Unless he is in full time employment.
Hi Skip.
Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. You do not mention in your post what type of child maintenance agreement you have in place. If you have family-based arrangement, which is just between you and your son's mother, this type of arrangement is not legally binding but is flexible. So, you and your son's mother may wish to discuss when your payments would stop.
The Child Support Agency (CSA) guidelines state that child maintenance would generally still be paid while your son's mother is still in receipt of Child Benefit payments and your son is aged under 16, or under 20 and in full-time non-advanced education.
When a child leaves full-time education in the summer, Child Benefit generally continues until the first week of September. For child maintenance purposes a child is anyone under 16, or someone between 16 and 20 who is not, or has ever been, married or in a civil partnership. Also, anyone aged 16 or 17 who is not in education, is not working and does not receive employment related benefits, is also defined as a child.
If you do have a case with the CSA, you may wish to confirm this information with them. You can find contact details on any letter the CSA have sent to you. Or, 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 and access to useful tools and forms online you can visit http://www.cmoptions.org, or if you would prefer a confidential chat you could call the Child Maintenance Options team on 0800 988 0988 (free from a landline).
We also have a sorting out separation web-app, it aims to make it much easier for separated parents to find the support they need, when and where they need it, and encourages parents to collaborate on a range of issues. The link is: http://www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation
William