To expect to XH to be prosecuted over the £80,000 he owes in child support?

[CreviceImp]

Bit of background. My XH has refused to pay child support for years. The CSA have been ineffective to say the least. There have been a couple of occasions whereby he has had some attachment to earnings made and payments have happened but not for years. I have given up my career as a teacher because I have a severely disabled child (and two others to care for) and have been her carer for years.He currently is self employed as a haulage driver.

The last conversation I had with the CSA (or whatever moniker they are currently using) I was told they couldn't find a firm address for him. I found one and passed it on but they said they needed absolute confirmation and they couldn't get it. I received a letter last week stating they had written to him to let him know he no longer had to pay child support but his arrears still stood. Seems they have an address after all.....

Having got my MP involved to no avail and written/contacted them numerous times AIBU to expect that he now be imprisoned for the years of what amounts to child neglect? He has refused to share the care let alone the financial burden.

AIBU to ask what this government is going to do to deal with this ongoing inequality towards women and children? I see no social justice.

[CreviceImp]

I am not sure about the separate legal pursuit of arrears. You would have to be in a position to afford it legally as legal aid wouldn't be available.

My idea is to criminalise the act of not contributing to your child/ren financially when it has been proved you have the means to. Making it a criminal not civil matter that an individual can be prosecuted over within a small timeframe might act to deter those inclined to abandon their child/ren.

It would recognise not contributing as financial abuse as well.

My petition is on the petition section on Mumsnet for anyone interested.

[ArrestedDevelopment]

Vertigo I'm only giving links to his stories and Twitter of him bragging to show the mockery of the system. I'm not going to hunt him down and rob him !

[CreviceImp]

Eustace thanks for the link. That is a really informative, well written piece.

[Eustace2016]

I've had to stop due to children and work but there are two addresses related to Diva Gods on companieshouse which people could search at the land registry as to property ownership. One of the two might be the new marital home. Also you can buy credits on 192.com which has the electoral roll.
I was hoping to find a limited company owned by the husband as their filed accounts are likely to give addresses although may be just a service address. if someone is determined they can make sure things are not in their name. Investigators can tail people lawfully if needs be but that can be expensive.

If someone is posting a lot of photos of children and home as the couple may be then you may be able to find identifying information in the pictures which links back to their residential address.

However I never believe anything I am told without evidence. It is possible he has paid a small fortune in child support but the mother is saying the opposite. You never know although that seems unlikely here.

[Eustace2016]

I still think allowing parents to litigate might get them more action than relaying on the CMS when there are 5 years of arrears. You can go on line and sue anyone on mnoeyclaimsonline - yes you have to pay a court fee but it's not impossbile to pay and you can sue if on benefits without paying fees I think if you do it direct with a country court. You do need an address however. You could serve proceedings personally or with a service agent if you know where someone works but not their home address.

Sometimes I'm glad mine doesn't pay at all as it's very simple - I earn the money, I pay for the children and they are with me 365 nights a year (and to be fair now they are older they are no trouble at all).

[CreviceImp]

Re the article-
I have learned that if you pay £5 every 12 weeks that is deemed 'compliant' under CSA/CMS rules. They seem to refuse to look into it further once you are deemed to be in this compliant category, even if for example you have £25,000 to spend on Christmas gifts for your other children......

That is appalling, unjust and a social disgrace.

On a separate note are BBC presenters paid by licence fee-payers and do licence fee-payers have a right to respond?

[VertigoNun]

You could try a bbc complaint. I think they are more on programme content. Maybe write to their pr in light of JS, do they want to back anyone else of a questionable nature?

[Babynamechange]

I know this has been said before, but the fundamental problem is that it is somehow socially acceptable not to pay. Single mothers are scapegoated and blamed for their feckless choice of partner and the all too common story of the vindictive ex trying to get every penny she can is trotted out.

Mine has been court ordered to pay yet in subsequent hearings he was blatant about how he intended to pay nothing. He actually told the judge that I 'wasn't gettin a f**g penny' and has made no attempt to hide the fact he works.... And nothing was done....nothing but a token 'well Mr X you should really make an effort to try and pay' from the judge.

This is someone who was abusive and continues to emotionally abuse our son on contact. It is all about his rights and nothing about his responsibilities and it is sanctioned by the court system.

I feel powerless regarding this, though in reality it is actually the least of my worries, just a small part of a depressingly larger picture.

[CreviceImp]

Babynamechange you and your child have been thoroughly letdown. I am really sorry for what you have been -and continue to go -through.

I am going to do some research and see if I can come up with anything useful.x

[CreviceImp]

Giving this a much overdue bump. I wandered off to Facebook and happened upon the hideousness that is 'child maintenance rip-offs'. That is a whole tier of grim on there....

Anyway thank-you for your messages of continued support and encouragement. Please keep signing and sharing.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/126895

Thank-you .

[VertigoNun]

Did you receive support from WEP? Sophie Walker came for a Web chat yesterday.

[CreviceImp]

No support what so ever from WEP Vertigo which is surprising given the degree of inequality around this issue.

I am currently getting a more detailed document together which I am going to send to them. Hopefully they will start to take the issue on board.

I have written to Caroline Lucus and Frank Field too.

[CreviceImp]

This is the gist.....

Given the systemic failures of both the CSA/CMS (£4 billion is owed in arrears) it is time for a new approach. We need to change how this is viewed by wider society because it has been normalised not to contribute towards your children through a lack of enforcement over years. There isn't a strong enough deterrent in place within the agency and for many child maintenance is still viewed as optional. I think it is time for parents who choose not to contribute towards feeding, housing and clothing their children (when they have the means) to be prosecuted for child neglect/financial abuse.

Children are the equal responsibility of both parents.

The average contribution made by an NRP who does contribute is £35 per week or just over £30,000 over the course of a child's lifetime. It costs on average £230,000 to raise a child. Even those paying are not paying an equitable share.

Given that over 95% of parents who used the CSA/CMS to access their legal entitlement to child support are mothers we need to open up the debate and discuss the long term repercussions this has on the lives of women and children. Women tend to be the main care givers (which restricts their earning power and employment flexibility)yet they are expected to also take on the majority of the financial burden too. They are able to earn less but expected to pay more.

Obviously the CMS and how it is organised also needs revisiting. The notion of compliance whereby you can make any financial contribution within a 12 week period and be deemed 'compliant' is a nonsense. However, it allows the government to release figures stating that 81% of parents are compliant, masking the true extent of the issue.

My idea is to tackle the behaviour, label it appropriately and have real,severe consequences in place. The focus is then where it should be -a failing parent rather than the failing agency they are hiding behind.

Prosecute NRPs who refuse to financially support their children (when they have means) with child neglect. Allow resident parents who are owed arrears over a year to prosecute non-resident parents for financial abuse with the help of legal aid.

[VertigoNun]

You could also link in recent news regarding women not contributing to pension schemes due to their commitment to childcare costs. They won't like their banking friends losing out on all that investment, partly due to so many non compliant NRP not paying child support.

[CreviceImp]

Excellent point! Will incorporate that one 🙂 Thank-you Vertigo

[VertigoNun]

Thank you for all the effort you are making to make life better for others.

[ArrestedDevelopment]

crevice did you manage to be accepted to join the vile 'rip off group' ?

[CreviceImp]

Hello everyone,
Quick update. I had a response to my letter from Frank Field-


Dear Kerry,

Thank you for writing to me about the child maintenance system.

The Work and Pensions Committee, which I chair, recently heard about similar issues at a meeting we held in private with a group of mothers from South Cambridgeshire, which is represented by Heidi Allen MP, a member of our Committee. Each of the mothers had recently had trouble when trying to claim maintenance payments from their ex-partners.

The Committee is therefore looking into the possibility of conducting an inquiry into the child maintenance system. If we do proceed on this basis, the Committee might wish to examine weaknesses in the system that some parents could be using to avoid paying maintenance in full.

Might I therefore suggest you keep an eye on our website to see if this comes up in our next raft of inquiries?

Best wishes and thanks again for taking the time to write to me,

Frank Field

[CreviceImp]

I suggest that everyone on this thread (and those just reading it ) who have similar issues get writing. 🙂

[CreviceImp]

Bumping -a long overdue one.

Please keep signing and sharing the petition x

[CreviceImp]

There is now going to be an inquiry into aspects of the CMS.

I still think there needs to be more sanctions in place for those who don't support their children as suggested by the petition but obviously a review of the current provision is also needed.

[CreviceImp]

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/126895

For those who wish to offer their support.