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!!

“We both do different caring activities in our time and pay for things whilst the children are with us, as for where the children are registered, both of us with the school but I am solely registered on the children’s medical records which they mostly use but he does provide them with private medical and dentist etc.”

He won’t be liable to pay maintenance at all, as he doesn’t earn above the amount where maintenance would be required even with shared care.

She’s going to end up with one lot less of child benefit, and there’s going to be the knock on effect of that on child tax credit/working tax credit.

Because it’ll stop you manipulating things to claim maintenance for both kids?? That’s literally why he’s done it! Why should he pay and you not? Just offset what he pays against what you wound have to pay as if he’s a higher earner he’ll still be due a lot more than you. You have just as much obligation to pay it as he does if things are 50:50 🤷🏻‍♀️ if you’d left well alone you’d get it. You haven’t and have claimed CMS because you get the CB and therefore you’ll get it for 1 kid, and offset what you owe him for the other - you’ll still get something. Why would it be fair on him otherwise?

I think you need legal advice from a lawyer specialising in this area of the law. If you can't afford that, perhaps try the CAB.

The way the Child maintenance service looks at it is if you both have 50% of the time. No one will be able to claim CM off the other. They work it out on how many days you each have them.
If one parent has them 4 days and the other 3, the one who has them 3 will have to pay the parent who has them 4 days, because they have the children more of the time. As you have told them you both have the Children 50/50 they will seeing as even and no one will be awarded money from the other parent. It doesn't matter who earns more, because the children benefit from that parents income 50% of the time. You really should have looked into this before trying to claim. You've shot yourself in the foot by trying to claim just because he earns more than you. The money is for the children's benefit, not yours, or you households. The positive part is you won't have to pay him CM either, if it's 50/50, but now you've forced his hand, your likely to lose the child benefit for one of them

I’m going to wait for the outcome because 1. He can’t even get the money, so I don’t see how they won’t at least consider that. 2. His only proof of 50/50 is the CMS letter, there is no court order, so we will both have to provide evidence and it’s likely to come down to who has the strongest evidence of care.

He would either not be eligible, or he would get it but then it would have to be given back at the start of a tax year via his tax code.

So you're going to deliberately lie about it not being 50:50 despite it a) actually being 50:50, and b) you already stating that it's 50:50?

OK, you've been given all the information here but are choosing to ignore it despite knowing it's not going to go your way. I don't know why you think that having it in writing that he has 50/50 by your own admission won't be enough "evidence" for him to prove it, but you have fun self-destructing over it.

Plus, of course, within approx four milliseconds of her ex discovering that this is her strategy he's going to go straight to court for a CAO to enforce the 50:50 custody that's already been in place for years. TBH he's probably doing that already.

OP it very much reads that you’re going to try and claim it’s not 50:50 by saying things like ‘the only proof he has’.
I don’t see why you think he should be paying you maintenance, it’s not any of your business what he earns if the childcare is 50:50.

I also suspect he will get awarded the CB for one child, and quite rightly so, you are currently getting money you’re not entitled to.

This is a wild case of FAFO. You screwed the pooch by getting greedy OP

This!

I’d be really interested to know how much OP is about to lose in child benefit and other benefits as a result of her greediness.

And even after being told that for 18 pages, she's insisting that her best option is to continue to FA! Sadly, I bet she'll flounce and we'll never get to hear how she FO.

He ^CAN' get the money and then pay it back in tax OR he can opt out of getting the money and not need to pay it back. He is eligible to claim it so I don't know why you're holding onto the idea that his claim will get rejected.

The only proof he has is your word? Are you planning on taking that back and saying that you were wrong/lying when you said it was 50/50?

If it goes to court, your children might be asked where they spend their time - are you going to ask them to lie for you? Evidence from others who can bear witness to the arrangement as well like his neighbours, your family and friends. There will be proof.

Lots of people claim CB but don’t take the money. For example a high earner with a stay at home partner will do this so the stay at home partner gets NI credits. He doesn’t need the NI credits but CB is the gateway to getting CM so he’s forced to claim for one so that he’s paying a fair amount because you put in a CM claim.
As for proving 50/50, he’ll say kids slept at his on these dates. Do you plan on telling lies and saying they didn’t? That would be despicable. Maybe he has a ring doorbell that records coming and goings.

OP - If ‘1’ was really an issue, it wouldn’t be possible. It’s not an issue and will have no bearing on your case. It’s fine to register child benefit and not claim it. I do this myself as a high earner. Others such as SAHM’s do this when the household income is too high, to ensure NI is credited. It’s absolutely standard.

I don’t even know where the start with ‘2’. I think you’ve spiralled since you found out his salary.

He doesn't even need to have them 50/50 to claim child benefit. If he is contributing money/goods/food, etc in an amount equal to or greater than the child benefit then he can claim it. I doubt they will ask many probing questions before awarding it to him

You’ll usually be responsible for a child if either:

• you live with them
• you’re paying at least the same amount as Child Benefit (or the equivalent in kind) towards looking after them - for example on food, clothes or pocket money

When men talk about their bitter, grabby exes you're the kind of woman they're talking about.

It happened to me and he got awarded 1 child and I the other.

he earns double what I do and did it to spite me and avoid CMS payments

Or.... You made a claim for CMS that you weren't entitled to?

@ProlongedAffair Great idea. That's exactly what you should do.
Why bother trying to fix it now, much better to let it get worse.

@ProlongedAffair he can get the money, I'm not sure why you keep saying that. He'll just have to pay it back via his self assessment. Or I'm fairly sure he can claim the entitlement but decline the funds.

I know you don't want to, but at the minute you stand to lose potentially lots more if you carry on with pursuing this. It might not seem fair that he's earning a lot more than you, but that's just the way it goes. If I were you, I would apologise, and ask him not to follow through on it. If he's got the entitlement for half the child benefit, it could affect any future benefit claims you have too- dsis has to split the disability payment she receives for their son with her ex because he did the same.