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Hi all,
I could really do with some help here.
My ex-partner and I had a child together back in 2004, so she's six now. I am on the birth certificate.
In 2007, after we'd split ( in 2006), I received a letter from her, which was a DNA test result - it showed that Her, the Child and another guy had done a DNA Mouth Swap test which proved that this other guy was the father.
Long story short, it was a horrible situation and I cut off from the Child (who was 3 at this stage) as I felt it best for her to know her biological father as her dad - it had nothing to do with me.
I have not seen her since.
So yesterday, I received a letter from the CSA instructing me to make payments of £17 per week child maintenance for the Child. When ringing them up to query it, it turns out that I also owe £3,200 "back payments" back to February 2007 and because I'm on the birth certificate as the father, I'm still liable!
How can this be right? How do I remove myself from the birth certificate, and how can I get the mother to stop harrassing me by naming me as the father on any benefit claims she makes???
The biological father works, but surely as I'm being asked for payment he isn't even paying even though he now has access to the Child??
I am self-employed with five step children, and another daughter of my own - I can't afford to pay for someone else's child (and fail to see why I should!).
People ask me "why did you sign the birth certificate" .. I didn't know that the Child wasn't mine, surely it's the duty of a dad to sign it! But now, after the fact, it turns out she isn't my Child but because of my signature I'm legally bound to pay. Horrible.
Can anyone give me any advice?
Firstly, I'm slightly puzzled by the backdated amount - have the CSA been invloved in this since 2007, or have they only just become involved?
Either way, as far as I know, it's irrelevant as you can prove you are not the father - take a look at this from the CSA.
http://www.csa.gov.uk/en/about/faq/disp ... age.asp#q4
Depending on which company did the DNA test, you may need to get another approved test done (and reading through the procedure, since they were swab tests - presumably by post - they procedure isn't enough for the CSA, plus you need to prove you are not the father, and not who is), the link shows the details - you get a discounted rate, and if it shows you are not the father, then the CSA give you the money back
Dear woodss,
If you are not the biological father of the 6 year old child then you should not be required to pay maintenance.
If would be advisable to contact the Child Support Agency, their telephone number is: 08457 133 133. You may be required to complete a DNA test to verify that you are not the father; the cost of this test will be reimbursed by the CSA if you are proven not to be the father.
The birth certificate can be amended by the General Registry Office, their telephone number is: 0845 603 7788. If the mother will consent to your name being removed from the birth certificate and you can provide a DNA test showing that you are not the father that should be sufficient. If the mother will not consent to your name being removed from the birth certificate you can then apply for a specific issue order which would override her refusal to give consent. You can submit your application on a C100 form which can be downloaded from http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/ . The guidance notes for this form are CB1 and CB3. The cost for a specific issue order application is £200.
If you think you might be eligible for legal aid then it would be worth completing an EX160 form, the guidance notes for this form are EX160a. If you are eligible for legal aid the fee of £200 could be waivered or partly paid on your behalf.
Yours sincerely,
The Children’s Legal Centre
Fantastic replies - thanks very much.
The CSA have only just contacted me, but claim to have been trying to contact me for over a year ... they say that the ex made a claim in 2007, BUT what she told me was that she hadn't, and was happy for me to pay as and when the Child needed anything. I did so, but obviously not after I found out the paternity results. However I was working full-time at the time, and the CSA didn't take anything from my wages (which is why I assumed what she'd said about telling them not to persue me was true).
So basically, I found out in June 2007 about the paternity. February 2007 is when I've being held liable for child support from, so .. ~4 months I can see me being liable although in my eyes I shouldn't have to pay anything as a) the child isn't mine, and b) I had been paying for things like clothing, food etc .. the Child even stayed with me for six weeks when the ex decided to go on holiday with her new boyfriend (not the bio-father by the way!!!) to his native Tanzania for 2 weeks - only to politely inform me after 2 weeks, via phone, that she had missed her plane as she wanted to stay with him but his Visa wouldn't be extended for another 4 weeks - so I was "stuck" with the Child ... it was then I decided to go for custody as I thought she was being irresponsible. Once she got back, I told her about this and lo-and-behold, she crapped herself and must have realised she had no option but to come clean about the paternity so that I couldn't take the child away - she contacted the biological father without me knowing it was going on, who along with the Ex and Child did a paternity test. Then gave me a nice letter. The rest is history...
Anyway - that's quite a rant 🙂 Thanks for the help, I'll keep checking back on this thread!
I'm not too sure of the CSA procedures - I'm surprised they've taken so long to actually contact you (though they do operate very slowly). If you are employed, then they can go for an attachment of earnings, and I think they do this before any more draconian means of recovering monies, so you need to be in reasonably constant contact with them to try to get the maintenance decision reversed. On the plus side, any money you do pay, assuming that it is later proved that you are not the biological father, you can recover from them (and I think that they pay it, rather than waiting to recover it from your ex). As I say, it's worth talking to the CSA about the evidence you have, and it's also worth finding out if they are chasing the biological father for maintenance.
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