Child Benefit Rival Claim Ex Partner Earning Loads!!!!!

[ProlongedAffair]

Me and my ex share 50/50 of our two children, it’s not court ordered but has been in place for the past few years. A few months ago I put in a claim for CMS and was awarded it, they see me as the primary carer because I get both children’s child benefits. I also discovered my ex is earning a 6 figure salary.

Last week I got a letter from child benefit saying that he is challenging my claim. I said to the lady that he earns too much to claim and I suspect he’s only claiming so he can try to get out of CMS. She told me that because he has the children for half the time and child benefit isn’t means tested, the likelihood is they will award child benefit one each! Surely that can’t be correct, can anyone advise who has been through their rival claims process?? He will then be able to claim CMS from me!!

What sort of evidence would I need to send to make sure I keep both benefits?

There isn’t a court order and nothing officially says 50/50, the only thing is the CMS application that says it is equal overnights.

You won’t keep both.

@ProlongedAffair You can't keep them both.
You say your ex-parner earns good wage - what do you earn?

Child benefit is not means tested in principle, but as you say over a threshold you have to pay it back so not worth claiming. I think it’s a bit silly of you to have claimed CMS without discussing with him. Now you are going to have less child benefit and potentially zero from him in terms of CMS. And honestly why should he pay you anything if he is genuinely 50:50? He has no obligation to give you money, you are his ex. I think unless there is some additional context you are being very selfish and it is going to bite you on the ars*.

I literally linked to the caselaw below. I'm sure you can read perfectly well. You can have a play on this site too, if you want to learn more. If you struggle with caselaw, I found a nicely abridged summary on a law firm's site for you here, too.

If you want to believe your gut and a Mumsnet thread instead of government sites, caselaw reports, and a law firm's summary, then of course that's certainly your prerogative.

And to answer your question: England and Wales. There's a different legal system in Scotland.

do you really need the extra child benefit?
if you are really struggling for the extra money could you speak to your ex ?

What can I submit to make sure I keep both?

He'd only be able to claim CMS for one child anyway though wouldn't he? And he'd be paying you CMS for the other still so what's the problem?

The problem is I would lose the £20 child benefit and then also have to pay him a percentage of my earnings in child maintenance.

@perfectstorm So you genuinely believe ONE court case determines every other?!!!! This won't even go to court.
I don't just "believe my gut" - how many times do I need to say it - I've had shared true 50/50 shared care of two children for over a decade.
With respect, I don't believe you have these qualifications on the basis of what you've said.
But anyway... let's see what happens with the OP and I await her update 😀

OP you say you’ve learned he earns 6 figures. So this is a new discovery?

and you feel you should benefit in some way? Is that what you mean?

you have the dc 50:50 yes? So why does him earning more affect you?

You could lie and say that it's not 50:50 but given a) you know it's 50:50, b) your ex knows it's 50:50, c) your children know it's 50:50, d) the schools etc likely know it's 50:50 and e) you've already put in a CMS application saying it's 50:50, then that would be a spectacularly dumb thing to do. All you'd achieve is to dig an even deeper hole than the one you've already dug yourself.

Or, here's a wild and crazy idea - you can face reality and see that what you're trying to do is not what the law says and short-sighted. You could go to your ex, apologise, and say that you'll drop the CMS claim if he drops the claim for half the CB. But you're not going to do that because this isn't about what's best for everyone, is it? It's about your underhand attempt to get more money.

If you don’t need the money and you are using money as a tool to hurt each other you’ll end up just hurting your children.
im not saying you are doing this, but often money/ maintenance is used to control.
it’s not worth a battle for £20 a week if he’s genuinely doing 50/50 and that’s working out for you.

The CMS application is the only concrete evidence of 50/50, would that be enough to award it to him?

@ProlongedAffair So now you're saying it's not 50/50?!!! Or are you planning on lying?

It is 50/50, but I am asking if the CMS letter will be enough proof for them that’s it’s 50/50, because there’s no court order.

Yes I have a friend who went through this process. The outcome was they were awarded 1 child CB each. They are 50/50 and so neither pay maintenance. He earns a 6 figure salary so is allocated CB for 1 child but gets no payment. She earns about 30k a year so her CB is paid for 1 child. This was in England and they had no court order.

Oh it just gets worse! I feel more dishonesty coming up

@ProlongedAffair So if it's 50/50 why would you be trying to prove otherwise?

@Zippymonkey Absolutely this. Very similar case to my 50/50.

I am not trying to prove otherwise I’m trying to work out what evidence he can provide vs what evidence I need to provide to make sure I keep both claims

Since you opened the CMS case, yes. It’s all he needs. As well as proof from the school or nursery that he does the school that week, clubs that he does, receipts he has for their care and food etc during his time. He will prove it. They will give him CB for one kid. You need to accept that and plan for it. It will leave to CMS claims for one child each and him just paying the difference.

You won’t keep both claims. It only get complicated with an odd number of kids, and then they have to fight it out to decide who gets the extra kid’s CB.

You don’t have that. It will be one each.

YOU HAVE BEEN DOING 50:50 FOR YEARS. EVERYONE KNOWS. YOU'VE ADMITTED IT ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTATION. TO DENY THAT WOULD BE AN OUTRIGHT, BALD-FACED LIE.

But go ahead. Lie. I mean, you've been acting shady as fuck all the way through so why stop now?

Here's my prediction of what will happen next - your ex will go to a solicitor and start an application to court for a CAO reinforcing the 50:50 schedule that you've already been following for several years. He will get it because, again, that's what you've already tacitly agreed to. And at that point all your game-playing will come crashing down while you face a big legal bill and be left thinking back fondly to the days when you were in an amicable coparenting situation with your ex. And all because you saw £££ and that blinded you to what's important.