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!!

Ok but you need to prepare yourself that he WILL get the child benefit so work out what your finances will be.
You've said yourself he has them 1 day more so you may also be at risk you pay him CMS and he pays you nothing so you need to start working it out.
It seems to me like you have convinced yourself you're going to get both CB claims when you really won't.

If he did manage to get one of the Child benefits does anyone know exactly what this means for child maintenance?? Will they definitely decide he’s entitled or keep it with me as I claimed first?

You’ve already been told what it means. You’re looking for someone to tell you what you want to be true, so you can discount the actual truth.

He will get a child benefit. He will use that, and any additional evidence he has, to demonstrate that he doesn’t need to pay you anything as he has the children at least 50% of the time. At best neither of you will pay maintenance to the other. At worst, you’ll be the only one liable to pay.

That you claimed first doesn’t mean you’re entitled to anything.

No one is this stupid surely.

But but but but... Finders keepers yeah?

OP, how can you still be asking this?

@ProlongedAffair I know it may not be what you want to hear but I think you need to prepare yourself to lose both CB and CM. Work out your finances on only the basis of what you earn then if that doesn’t happen you can put the CB/CM in a savings account to prepare for if there are any future changes.

He's doing this so his CMS will end. Make sure he has them 50% (including school holidays) otherwise you can claim it's not 50/50.

OP lots of people have asked you this one question and you have not answered.

If he gets one child benefit claim (which he will be in understand you don't accept this).. and you lose one child benefit.

And it is then ordered that he pays no child maintenance to you AND you do not pay him.

I understand that you do not accept this is will happen despite advice given.

But if this happens and you get no child maintenance and one less child benefit, what is the impact to your finances? Will you be better or worse off?

@InterIgnis I know what people have said. I want to hear from someone who has actually been in this situation rather than just speculating.

She’s already confirmed that over the last 3 months, he’s had them ever so slightly more than she has. I think it’s about principle rather than cms for him at this point.

Obviously if they order that he doesn’t pay maintenance and I dont either then I will be worse off because I will have lost one of the child benefits.

It's not speculation. It's how CMS works.

Most likely is you get 1 child benefit each and neither pay CM

There is a time chance that you both get 1 child benefit each and CMS say each parent pays a small amount of warnings to the other but it will be the lowest figure (this is highly unlikely through)

You also risk both child benefits going to dad and you having to pay maintenance for 2 children.
By your own records Dad has had them more often.

Hell of gamble you have taken that will likely see you worse off

And all because you saw red at six figures

A bunch of people in OP's position HAVE commented and said there will be no CMS for 50/50 and he WILL get one CB, but as usual she is ignoring those comments and is fishing for what she wants to hear. At what point OP will you realise!?

I worked in this particular (legal) field.

You’ve been told repeatedly throughout this thread what will happen. On one hand I suspect you may be a troll, but on the other I’ve seen first hand people ignore the solicitors they’ve employed because apparently ignoring the facts of the matter means they suddenly stop applying.

When this inevitably bites them in the ass the tantrums are a sight to behold.

No speculation, actual experience - my partner earns more, put in a rival CB and CMS claim and won them both. Exactly 50/50.
They both recieve CB for 1 child each and he pays her CMS for their youngest, she pays him CMS for their eldest.
This is currently happening.

@ProlongedAffair do you have special needs? I don't mean to be nasty asking that but it's the only thing I can think of why you are asking the same question over and over but not accepting what people are telling you, if you really don't understand maybe it could be explained differently but if you're deliberately choosing to ignore people's advice then there really isn't much anyone can do.

"or keep it with me as I claimed first?"

Yeah you get to keep it, they famously work on a dibs system

I believe you mentioned this earlier in the thread.

He’s going through the process of addressing and correcting this, yes?

It's in black and white on the CMS website that in a 50/50 arrangement, no-one pays. There are some cases on here where CMS has made a mistake or incorrectly applied their own rules; it is up to the people involved if they wish to challenge this but they could do if they wanted to. It is very unlikely that the CMS will make the same mistake with you. It sounds like your partner has had enough of your nonsense and isn't willing to let you fleece him for money he doesn't owe you, so even if they do, he will challenge it and you'll end up owing him any money he's paid you. It's not a maybe sort of situation, it's a written, established rule.

Now you've said that he actually has more than you, it's entirely possible that you are going to end up with no CB and paying him CM. What a mess you've made.

You know what you need to do- cancel the CMS claim and ask your ex to relent on the CB issue.

Yes, it's just taking forever.

I was looking at a FB group for people in a similar situation and it's unbelievable how many who do 50/50 that still have to pay CMS

Did he win the CB rival claim first then??

Yes, he put the rival claim in. He's actually got to pay it all back as he's over the threshold but she became greedy and so he decided to go for it and got awarded it and then did the CMS claim a week later.

Claiming first doesn’t mean anything. People’s circumstances change all of the time so nobody is punished for being second. CMS and DWP care about the accuracy of the claim and since you’re 50/50, you both should claim CB for one child each and you pay CM to each other. As he earns much more, you will get more CM than you pay. 🤷‍♀️

I see, so they have him down as the main carer for the eldest child because he gets the child benefits but previously he was paying CM for both of them??