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4 replies

Maria25 · 08/08/2016 14:44

Hello,
Long term lurker, first time poster here :)

I'm was hoping for some advice regarding CMS and was hoping someone who has been in a similar situation would be able to advise how they handled it.
My daughter is 7, she has no formal contact with her dad for 2 years since we split, I have a non-mol order which runs out in January and a 'lives with' court order for my daughter which states she must live with me until she is 18. My ex and mine's relationship was horribly abusive with violence, refuges, police action etc.
In June this year, I opened a case with CMS and asked them to calculate how much ex should be paying me. They contacted him via phone and letter but he didn't engage. They sent me (and I'm assuming him too) a letter which stated how much he should pay me and a schedule for payments to start 1st of August. Great. However, I thought it was unusual as he is a cash in hand worker, never paid taxes or even had a bank account as far as I'm aware so I questioned on what info they had made their calculations. They advised that they had used a national average wage for his profession as they had no financial info from HMRC. He has since opened a dispute and I've had a letter to say he has 14 days to provide more evidence of his income, whether it's more or less or if his income is zero. The advisor said that if he signs a declaration to say his income is nil then they will close the case! My question is what can I do? I know he is earning, he must have some sort of income to support himself surely? Has anyone else had this and if so what did you do?

Thank you for reading X

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Maria25 · 08/08/2016 17:18

Have I posted in the wrong topic?

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FoofFighter · 08/08/2016 17:24

Might be better in Lone Parents? or possibly Legal Matters? If you click report, MNHQ can move it across for you.

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Maria25 · 08/08/2016 17:53

Thanks :) I've just seen the Mumsnet thread about CMS so I might copy and paste on there for advice

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Maria25 · 12/08/2016 12:11

Well, CMS have just called me to advise that although my ex has provided something in the way of evidence (no idea what), they have rejected his appeal and the evidence and therefore the original calculation using the national average wage for his profession still stands! Whilst I know that he does in fact earn more than this, I'm just happy that he is being held accountable. However, he has to actually make the payment so I won't be holding my breath!

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