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
Hi,
Can anyone help/advise please?
My partner has an child with his ex. A long time ago it was written into their court order that he had finance the travel for the mother to collect the child for access.
My partner was working and earning a good wage, this has now changed and we are in receipt of benefits and therefore can no longer afford to give the ex this money.
We have been advised that our options are:
Apply to the court to vary the order - if we cant afford £30 how can we afford to go to court?!!
Stop paying and let ex know - which will look bad on us in court later in the year
Carry on paying and discuss in court later in year - We physically cannot afford to pay her.
The benefits WE receive are for US to live on. The childs benefit is for her to "live on" therefore there is no surplus.
How can we be "forced" into this position? How can it be right that we have to continue to pay her even though this money is the bare minimum provided for a couple to live on?
How would it appear to a judge that we stopped paying? Would he/she see reason? I don't want to nark the judge off as my partner has successfully managed to get contact with mother reduced and really don't wanna do anything that makes us look bad or like we are withholding money....but truth is we can't afford it.
Any advice would be gratefully received thanks.
Hi and welcome,
I'm not 100% sure of how you should go about this, I'm guessing you have spoken to the ex and explained your situation?
I will see if I can get the legal team to drop in and see if they can advise for you.
Darren
Hi
The CCLC will go into detail, but as far as I am aware, you can apply to vary the court order, and by representing yourself, you avoid the legal costs, and since you are on benefits, you may well not have to pay the £200 application fee. I would say that as soon as you apply to court, you can justify stopping paying - but the CCLC will confirm.
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.