I have just had the standard annual review through for my son. I have two children with my ex wife and I have never failed to pay for my children. My son is 19 and daughter is 17. My son is 20 in December and has decided to stay on at college for another year.Does the child maintenance not stop for him in December now that he is 20 ? According to Child maintenance I will continue paying till October 2022. This is clearly wrong isn't it
As far as I am aware, it should stop at his 20th birthday, so assuming you aren't in arrears, then you shouldn't be paying anything further. I would certainly raise this with CMS.
Many thanks for your help. I will hopefully get an answer today if I can get through. I was a bit confused at the calculation as it feels it will never end. He is an adult after all and works alongside college. I hope it is just a mistake
@rederic did you ever get an answer for this as my partners son turns 20 soon too and he’s just had his latest calculation through and his payments are higher (due to the National cost of living increase) but are the same amount for the months past his sons 20th birthday.
His daughter is going to turn 18 soon too, so should the payments change the month after the son turns 20, or have they taken this into consideration and spilt it over 12 months being as he still has to pay for his daughter for another 2 years, assuming she stays in education?
@chrisgsh1980 hello, yes I did get an answer. So the payments for my son stopped when he turned 20, this is the cut off age and it will stip. They should automatically do this for you but you can phone to clarify. I only continued paying till he turned 20 as my son stayed in education (college).
@rederic thank you. Yes, we believe the son is still in full time education.
He was on his final attendance warning a year ago and my other half has not spoken to them since last year due to the mother poisoning them again (it’s been a regular occurrence since they split), so we can only assume that he’s not been kicked out of college since she is supposed to inform CMS, but there’s no way for us to know.
Does anyone know if CMS check or is it if the assumption if she is in receipt of child benefit that he’s still eligible for CMS payments?
@chrisgsh1980 child benefit and child maint go hand in hand pretty much. I have a difficult relationship with my ex wife so had the same communication barriers. The issue is proving it, as your OH will say one thing and his ex will say another. As long as the kids are ok that is the main thing. The kids usually work it out in the end.....as a dad I just waited and now have a good relationship with my kids. I hope you manage to get it sorted 😊.