To think that not paying child maintaince should be a criminal offence like tax evasion

[ReallyTired]

One of ds's friends has a father who is extremely well off, but has been terrible about paying maintaince. The man has taken no interest in his child, and the mother has found getting maintaince out of her ex is like getting blood out of a stone. The little girl is living in adject poverty because her father owes thousands. The man is able to afford a whole host of foreign holidays and can easily afford to support his daughter.

I feel that men who hide their income for maintaince purposes should be jailed. Even if they have second families.

[Booyhoo]

amazonian i'm guessing that is a joke?

[Booyhoo]

i know wild. they're making it worse for RPs instead of better.

[SoftKittyWarmKitty]

Amazonian I can't do that as I don't have his address, phone or mobile number. I haven't seen the arsehole for nearly seven years. Although I'm sure if I did that I'd be hauled before the courts for child neglect and abandonment. Double standards, anyone?

WildWorld is right. When the charges come in, parents like me who get little or no CS won't bother applying or won't be able to afford to. This will have several effects. Firstly it'll reduce the CSA's caseload and enable them to focus on fewer cases, mainly 'easy' cases (because the 'difficult' cases won't have reapplied). Secondly, due to this the CSA's success rate will increase and the govt can say 'See! Charging for the CSA works! Look how successful they are now!'. Meanwhile, those who haven't reapplied will fall into an abyss and will disappear off the radar altogether, and non-compliant non-payingparents will get away with not paying - again.

Niceguy is right, CS should be deducted at source.

[SoftKittyWarmKitty]

I'm sure she was joking Booyhoo. Joke or not, there's no way on earth I'd dump my DS on my ex, even if I knew where he was. I might as well leave him with a stranger .

[LadyMaryChristmas]

I had thought about the 'here, this is your son. Lets see how you cope' approach but it's unfair on ds. What about the idiots who move out of the UK? Mine's in Ireland. I have the joy of going to court here to try to get maintenance for ds.

[blueemerald]

I do think that not paying towards children you have helped create is shameful, however, I find the idea of debtors' prisons very scary. Also, would time be served in lieu of payment? Would the debt be written off? Bailiffs might be an idea though...
Also, in some states in America you are not allowed a court financed lawyer if you are facing jail for not paying child support. It's a civil offence, not a criminal one, so many rights (including the presumption of innocence, a jury) do not apply.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

The csa can use bailiffs they just choose not to. They have plenty of things they can do, they just don't bother.

They are a joke.

But yanbu absent parents who do everything they can to avoid paying or to avoid paying a fair amount are IMHO piss poor neglectful people who do not deserve to call themselves parents.

[FestiveElement]

It would be very easy for the CSA to remove passports and driving licences, and to prevent offenders from being able to obtain credit.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

Blue. It's only scary if you are evading paying, and if your not evading why would you need a lawyer you should be perfectly capable of showing a judge proof of payment

[Wittsend13]

I'll sign a petition if someone who knows how too would do one.

It should be a criminal offence!

[IneedAsockamnesty]

Festive given they already have he power the power to issue ccj's and seize driving licenses but never do. Clearly its not easy.

[Amazoniancracker]

In my case it's simples.
I know where he is.
I know where he works.
I know the people in Thailand who employ him.
I know the Tefl people in Bangkok who allowed him to get his job even though his headmaster in this country had kindly confirmed that he was banned from teaching.

Also, and much more damning:
I have copies of his emails asking mates to smuggle him some decent cheese through Bangkok customs

and some quaffable red wine

and emails telling these mates to get some Good Old British Backbone when they refused.

I foudn him recently and asked him to help support his son. He said he only earns 1000$ US a month.
poor lamb.

[LadyMaryChristmas]

Removing passports is a good idea. I'd like to see those who won't work forced to do workfare. Any earnings above their JSA can go to their children. If they refuse to participate their JSA is reduced but the minimum £5 contribution is ring fenced.

[Amazoniancracker]

blueemerald who mentioned debtors prisons?

[izzyhasanewchangeling]

It pisses me off, because as soon as we were assessed to pay, we paid, no issues (even though it sickens me), there is no way DH or I are being accused of being non paying NRPs, but it would have been nice if the onus hadn't been on us to enforce collection.

We were so naive, we just thought, well OK, she will build up arrears but we will live with it to keep youngest SC happy and it will even out in the end, never did I think that we could have a conversation that involved them agreeing someone was in thousands of pounds in arrears, but that those arrears didn't count.

If we had known that, we would have had to enforce collection, because we are being royally screwed for it now, when we were hoping to be clearing debt.

I was livid and I am still not happy.

They are useless in other ways, we changed bank accounts a while back, and the SO to the CSA went wrong, we didnt pay for 4 weeks, but as that account only runs DDs and SOs I only check it once a month, no-one from CSA contact us to tell us the payment wasnt going in - I cleared it straight away, but a call from them would have stopped it happening in the first place.

[FestiveElement]

Is there some reason that its so difficult for them to do those things? I knew the CSA has powers that it doesn't bother to use, I'm just not sure why they don't use them and I'd be interested to find out.

[WildWorld2004]

LadyMary what do you mean by forced workfare because normal workfare you dont get any extra. You only get jsa.

[Amazoniancracker]

Izzy I don't understand your post, but it is late so maybe I am being dumb.

I don't get it at all.

And why are you everywhere also?

[HappyMummyOfOne]

I think the CSA should use more of their powers if needed but it shouldnt be illegal or a criminal offence unless its equal for both PWC and NRP. Lots of PWC dont work so arent paying for their children so it has to be the same rule applied.

[Amazoniancracker]

Because Izzy this is a thread, it seems to me, about NRPs simply not paying a thing and fucking off. Neither of which seem to be relevant in your case.

[Booyhoo]

by that logic happymum then the amount should come out of the NRP's benefits the same way it comes out of the PWC's benefits if they aren't working. so the NRP should still have to pay.

[LadyMaryChristmas]

Normal workfare. I hadn't accounted for the no extra.

[splashymcsplash]

Yanbu.

I'm so happy to see that lots of people agree. Sometimes it feels that those who are against fathers taking financial responsibility are in the majority.

[Amazoniancracker]

You still talk about the mother of your SC as she and it sounds like you are well pissed off with she and the impact that's had on your we

Grrr to you and your we and your flippant observations about she

Your post sounds much more angry with she than the CSA tbh

[izzyhasanewchangeling]

So Amazonian - exactly where, in my post about her not paying for 7 years, is her not paying a thing and fucking off not relevant.

She did not pay maintenance for her older children for years.

She built up thousands of pounds of arrears.

She did not see them for years.

She did nothing for them, for years, didnt feed them, clothe them, care for them, look after them, see them, take them anywhere, or in anyway provide for them.

Is your problem that the NRP is a she or are you missing something?