[Solved] How do I appeal my child maintenance payments set by court?

Bud - sounds like you've tried most of the right lines... I will forward to the Children's Legal Centre to see if they can help... You might want to call them if you need it quicker but i know their lines are always busy...

Their number can be found in our directory along with the contacts for Community Legal Advice http://www.dadtalk.co.uk/directory_of_s ... l%20issues - both are free.

Have you tried the new Child Maintenance Options services?

\ Buzz

One question - did the court set the maintenance payments, or did you simply agree the level with your ex and then the court approved this?

It would need someone on here with more legal expertise to confirm this, but I think that in the first instance, you would need to go back to court to get it varied, in the second instance, I don't think you do, and the CSA could then be used.

Would be interested in a legal opinion on this either way.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the responses.

Buzz - Spoke to Childrens Legal Centre and they said I need a solicitor, so looking into that option.

Actd - We agreed the level with my ex and then the courts approved this. I have been paying her the same amount since the day she left me. Courts took one look at it (I am apying £3000+ a month) and told her she ought to be darn'd grateful I was so generous.

From what you guys have said I can make a claim through the CSA and I'm hoping she'll agree to go along with them too. I have one worry - te CSA used to be shockingly slow and to be honest shite. I understand they have been reformed of late, what's your experience of them and what can I expect?

On another note, as of the 26th of this month when the court order ends (I will have been paying full whack for 1 whole year) can I pay her the CSA recommended amount? What I don't want to do is pay her full whack and then have to claim back any over payments as I know my ex wife and I'll never see it!

If I put the difference in payments to one side in case I have to pay her full whack until the CSA approve our payments and the process is in place, I'd happily pay her the difference. Only IF she was entitled to it but I'm not paying it out just becuase she wants to elongate the process and line her own pocket. As the agreement ends on 26th I can hardly be breaking any order when a new one is being worked on.

Thanks for taking time out to read about my woes!

Regards,
Matt

I can't remember the legal terminology, but it sounds like the court hasn't set the level of maintenance so you may not be bound by it. For this level, I would really recommend legal advice - probably best to go back to the solicitor who dealt with you originally, just to confirm whether you are bound by the agreement.

Another question is whether this payment covers maintenance for your ex-wife as well as your children - again, your solicitor will cover this.

The CSA calculation is 15% of takehome pay for one child, 20% for 2 and 25% for 3, and you can then reduce that if you have dependant step cihldren under 16 (18 if still at school) with further reductions if you have any expenses in seeing the children (excluding first £15 per week and you have to use cheapest reasonable means of transport generally). There are a few other odds and ends that the CSA take into account, and I'm not sure if there's a £2000 per month limit (I was nowhere near this limit).

My recommendation is that, assuming you are paying for the children's maintenance only, then after legal advice, you need to calculate what you should pay according to the CSA rules and start paying this - but again, I stress, I would get legal advice first.

Strictly speaking, you only become liable to pay the CSA when they contact you, so you could get away without paying for a month or so, but I wouldn't recommend this, purely because I believe that it's wrong.

The CSA are quite slow, and they have to jump through a lot of legal hoops if the non-resident parent refuses to pay.

I know all of the above because I have been dealing with the CSA as I am the parent with care trying to get maintenance from my ex-wife. It took me two years to get the first payment/arrears paid, and it's looking like it will be the same again to get the next lot of arrears paid, as my ex-wife has tried every delaying tactic available.

Hi Actd,

Thanks for response - excellent advice! Have spoken to old solicitor and we are not bound by the agreement as it expires on 26th leaving me free to go the CSA route and no, ex wife is remarried so no spousal maintenance.

Many thanks for the clear and concise info regarding the CSA. Have had a chat with a legal bod who said in the interim period I should only pay what the CSA recommend, however I will put aside the difference just in case there are probs until this is all done and dusted.

Another question for the forum though. Do i have to pay my sons private school fees? Forgot to ask legal bod when having free telephone consultation! I did when it went through the courts but the Citizens Advice Bureau said I am not obliged to pay if going through the CSA as it's not included in the assessment or payments.

Basically private school is £10,000 per year on top of any maintenance I have to pay. I can only only afford one and not the other but I desperately want my son to stay at his school as he's dyslexic and has some behaviour issues since hormones have kicked in.

What I would like to propose to my ex is that I either pay full maintenance as per CSA calculation and no school fees or I pay say half the CSA calc and maybe all or the majority of the school fees depending on CSA figure.

Am I able to do this I wonder or are the CSA inflexible when it comes to such situations? I know what my ex wife will say as she only sees life in pound signs, she'd take the money over our sons wellbeing any day.

This is a minefield! Thank god for this site! Have had some of the best and clear advice so far from you guys!

Regards,
Matt

I think there are special rules on maintenance if your son has special needs, but I don't think dyslexia or hormones would count, not sure though, so ask the CSA.

The CSA are generally bound by their rules unless either of you appeal and go to a tribunal (no cost to this), in which case they may find a way to be a little more flexible. The new CMEC (I think) is designed to encourage private agreements between parents without the CSA being involved if possible.

However, there is nothing to stop you coming to a private agreement to pay more than the CSA set out. Perhaps you could pay - through the CSA - their calculated amount, and then have an agreement with your ex that, as long as your son continues at the private school, you will pay her the difference between the CSA amount and the school fees.

The only problem with this is that it is in your ex wife's interest to take your son out of his private school as she would get the money via the CSA towards living expenses, whereas if he is in school, she has to fund his day-to-day costs entirely out of her own money. Perhaps there could be some negotiation around this though.

DEEPMJ - did you get the answers you needed to you CSA questions? It might be worth checking out the Child Maintenance Options site too since as they say more eloquently than i : -

Since 27 October 2008, all parents have had the choice of setting up a child maintenance arrangement using the CSA or making a private agreement about child maintenance with the other parent.

http://www.cmoptions.org/en/maintenance/changes.asp or we wrote a summary article with links : http://www.dadtalk.co.uk/articles/child ... ptions.php

They also have some help sheets on private arrangements etc and a free helpline 0800 988 0988. Its the new, nicer face of the CSA 🙂

\ Buzz

PS. Thanks for the complement on the site - TELL ALL YOUR MATES!! Get them to sign up for the Dad:Pledge where we send out short daily tips or the newsletter so we can keep in touch. We love hearing from Dads of all shapes and sizes and at whatever stage of fatherhood!! Buzz

Dear Matt

It appears from your post that you have already received some telephone advice from us and also have received the advice of a solicitor, we will therefore attempt simply to clarify the advice you have already received.

If the court order ends on 26th of this month then you will no longer have an obligation to pay this amount. Your ex-wife will then has several options, either to apply to the court for a new order (by way of agreement) or alternatively to involve the Child Support Agency.

If your ex-wife decides to take the matter back to court then it is likely that if your financial circumstances have significantly changed then the order will reflect this. You may be able to use the figure provided by the Child Support Agency as an indicator of what should be being paid in the meantime (between the order ending and any further action being taken).

We hope that this information is useful to you and as suggested above we would recommend that you contact Child Maintenance Options for further advice on 0800 988 0988.

Kind regards

Children’s Legal Centre

Dear All,

Have had legal advice and spoken to various agencies - all have been brilliant and much help.

I was sent this advice in the post via CAB, whom despite taking ages coming back to me due to their massive workload, have reassured me no end. Here are some snippets that may be of interest to others in a similar situation:

Financial Provision for Children

If both parents live in England the court does not have power to deal with child maintenance, but the Child Support Agency (CSA) will make an assessment. If you agree to a maintenance figure, the court can approve the agreement in an order. However, either parent could still go to CSA once the order is one year old. Whether or not there is an agreement about child maintenance, a CSA assessment or a court order, the court still has the power to make orders for additional maintenance and for capital and property for the benefit of children.

The income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each of the parents has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;

The financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each of the parents has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;

Both parents have a duty to give full and proper disclosure of their financial position so that a proper financial arrangement can be made.

The question of private school fees can be contentious. Factors the court will take into account include whether the child is already privately educated or was expected to be privately educated, the affordability of private education and so on. There is of course no rule that says that the parent the child does not live with should pay for school fees alone. If there is a CSA assessment and the parent the child lives with earns well (or could do so), the parents may well need to share those costs.

Hopefully this time I will have a fairer outcome regarding paying for my children, I just want the best for them yet somehow I feel I am being punished financially because I am a man, I mean, she works full time and so does her husband so she's not skint.

Anyway, have written to her with my proposal for CSA payments and paying half of our sons school fees but she text me last night and said "No way! My money is not changing because you spent it all when we were married, I'll see you in court!". Typical of her......oh well, on go the boxing gloves I suppose! Will keep you posted.

Regards,
Matt

Now I've learned something new here - I knew that the CSA was the overriding authority on child maintenance, but I didn't realise that the court could make additional orders.

Do you know if this includes pensions - the reason for asking is that in an attempt to avoid paying maintenance, my ex set up a pension and paid 100% of salary into this - the CSA at appeal disregarded this, but by the time this had happened, she had build up a modest pension (in addition to all of her other pensions) and it would be nice to have the option to have a crack at this - bearing in mind that in the original divorce, I agreed that she got 75% of the assets because she was taking the children, but in the end, only had them for about 3 years.

Dear Matt

Thanks for your further enquiry.

Generally maintenance issues will fall into the Child Support Agency’s remit however occasionally the court can become involved in enforcing an agreement. The court would become involved if an agreement had been made regarding maintenance and both parties wished it to be made subject of a court order (otherwise known as a consent order).

Therefore another court order would only be made if another agreement could be made between you and your ex-wife in relation to a sum which would usually be higher than the required CSA amount.

Your second query appears to be related to divorce law which unfortunately we are unable to advise on as it is not a child law issue. We would recommend that you visit your local Citizen’s Advice Bureaux for advice on any subsequent financial claim that you may wish to make.

Kind regards

Children’s Legal Centre

Hi there,

An update on what's happening. Been to see a great solicitor who has advised me to:

Apply to CSA for an assessment and an application *to pay as a Non Resident Parent (*More on this later on). By doing this, because the court order for maintenance is over 12 months old it cancels it immediatley. If ex wife insists on going to court still, the court will merely apply to the CSA for an assessment.

The subject of school fee's was part of the court order and we would have to go back to court to have the order removed. However, as I have provided P60 and payslips and a breakdown of my outgoings the courts would see that I am unable to afford the school fee's on top of the maintenance. This means there would be no justifiable case for a school fees application so ex wife wouldn't get the money for that on top what she already gets.

It is most definately in wifes best interests to accept my offer of reduced child maintenance with school fees paid. Afterall, it's the children who matter in this. But she's baulking at the offer and has sent my lawyer a letter demanding to know about a bank account mentioned on my payslip that she has no knowledge of. She is still insisting I have secret bak accounts with mountains of gold coins stashed away. God I WISH!!!

Anyway, regarding appliction to pay child maintenance as a non residence parent. You wouldn't believe it but when I rang the CSA to say "I am the NRP and I want to make an application to pay my ex wife maintenance money" they said "We never have the NRP ring to apply, I don't know what form you'd need to do that. You need to contact your local office as we can't help you!" Afterall, all fathers are gits who don't want to pay for their children....that's how it felt anyway, I was completely taken aback.

The forms online and that they send you are for the resident parent (usually the mother). Well after a good chat with local office in Hastings, they sorted it all out for me. How bizarre is that though?!

Actd - your wife sounds a right piece of work, best get legal advice on that trick she played with the pension etc. Good luck mate.

Cheers,
Matt

>Actd - your wife sounds a right piece of work, best get legal advice on that trick she played with the pension etc. Good luck mate.

The CSA weren't too impressed with this - they do have procedures to cope (well they stretched the variations a little) so her pension was dissallowed completely for the calculation (so she was worse off than just paying, say 20%) - went through the whole of the CSA tribunal and appeals process. Actually getting money and other tricks shes's played means I have been in constant touch with the CSA over the last 4 years. At present, the CSA are well into the process of taking legal charge over her house, and we're only a couple of steps off looking at a jail term.
This is why I have a pretty good knowledge of the workings of the CSA 🙂

I need to let off some steam! 😡

Can you believe it?????? My ex-wife is now threatening to not let me see my children this weekend if I don't pay her the difference between the old court order and the new CSA amount! It's £400 per month less. Is that what she thinks our children's happiness is worth??? I have to pay what she demands to see them, not what the law says I should I pay??

She has reached a whole new level of low, in fact, she has hit the bottom and hired a digger to go deeper!

Why are we men punished for wanting to be treated fairly and be good fathers??

Rant over with.......

Matt

PS: Read this online, hope it's true as we have a contact order in place set by the court.

Access is a right of the child and not a right of the parent, a parent with custody cannot refuse access to the parent without custody unless there is a court order that says otherwise. If a parent with custody refuses access, he or she can be cited for contempt of court and be fined, also reclaiming any costs incurred.

I need to let off some steam! 😡

Can you believe it?????? My ex-wife is now threatening to not let me see my children this weekend if I don't pay her the difference between the old court order and the new CSA amount! It's £400 per month less. Is that what she thinks our children's happiness is worth??? I have to pay what she demands to see them, not what the law says I should I pay??

Unfortunately, I can find this believeable. Is this in writing in any way?

You need legal advice on this, either on here, or professional, and you need it quickly. Certainly, it's not something I would say a court will be impressed with.