AIBU to worry CMS deductions could push my son into crisis?

[Wokeuptired]

My son split from his ex almost 2 years ago, they have 2 children together and 1 child that my son brought up as his own, their was lots of drama in the relationship and his ex was very demanding, my son paid her maintenence every month and paid for other things for her like the sky bill and some h/p goods, at the end of last year my son took a very serious attempt at taking his own life and he got sectioned, he obviously couldn't work but his ex was still demanding money from him, In March he got his old job back but he had to save for a deposit and furniture as well as pay for prescriptions food fuel to get to work, he was around £200 short each month and we helped him out with that, during this time his ex refused to let him see the children and he has not seen them since January, he had an upcoming court case to get to see them, as the eldest isn't his biologically he had to get a lawyer to help him as he wants her included.
Now the CMS are involved and they have taken £1700 out of his wages this is £700 for the month and £1000 in back pay as they calculated this from December last year, this leaves my son with around £500 after tax, he can't live on £500 as he can't even cover his rent with that, he has just got himself sorted financially but still owes money.
He doesn't know what he can do as he has phoned CMS and they said it has to be that amount and he explained the situation.
He has been to his boss to see what can be done and if he leaves this job he will break his contract with them and they won't employ him again, he can't go part time and then do work on the side to make the money up.
He just can't afford to work, it's ridiculous as he doesn't want to go on benefits as he also pointed out that it won't help his mental health.
What can he do?
I'm just so worried that he is going to try and end his life again as this seems like a no win situation.

Your son can’t afford to live independently right now - can he move back with you?

This

Sounds like your son is telling porkies

As a couple of other PP have pointed out, the numbers here just don't stack up. I don't think your son is telling you the truth. Could he just be trying to get money out of you?

Can he not get a job in your area?

Seriously, if I thought my son might kill himself I'd be doing everything I could to persuade him to move back in with me.

None of those numbers make sense

This. It’s not adding up.

CMS will use his gross income to calculate, and I’ve used the net figure you’ve given us so it will differ a bit. But he still will not have a calculation of £700.

It simply isn’t true.

The figures don't make any sense compared to his monthly salary and the fact that he was unemployed between December and March. No sense at all.
You are not getting a full picture here.

She doesn’t sound desperate. @Wokeuptired is he also paying for the child that isn’t his? If so, challenge CMS asap.

If he was paying what he owed when working and told them when he wasn’t he shouldn’t have built up arrears so it would be worth checking how that figure has been calculated. It doesn’t matter whether his ex still demanded it whilst he was out of work or not, CMS would not expect it. Also he should not be paying for the eldest and whether he would like to or not it’s probably not the right thing for him at the moment. £700 out of a salary of about £32,000 sounds too much as 2 children with no shared care would usually be about 15% so about £400.

Then suspect he has faked it, to get money out of you. And CMS use an online portal now, so he wouldn’t be getting letters? Unless it’s the first contact he has had from them.

He can log in to the portal and send a message laying out his salary, and what the online calculator says he should be to show that it isn’t £700. He can also discuss a different payment plan but since CMS simply would not take £1000 extra and leave him with nothing, it simply isn’t true. He is lying to you.

Agreed. I guess your son is on about 32K a year, with 2 kids who never stay with him he would owe about £450/month, but as previous poster said, that is only when he has been working. If he was without income he would have owed almost nothing. He is either lying about the numbers or CMS has got i wrong somehow and he would need to go back to them to sort this out.

Has he seen a lawyer/solicitor ?

his ex refused to let him see the children and he has not seen them since January, he had an upcoming court case to get to see them, as the eldest isn't his biologically he had to get a lawyer to help him as he wants her included

What were the HP payments he paid for her ? Obviously this won't be taken into account as she will say it was a gift .
But he should not be forced to finance a non biological child . Does the ex recieve CM from the dad for this child ?

Your numbers aren't making any sense , you have not been given a true story here

There are so many things not adding up here, I'm not sure who's selling, nor who's buying it.

He has children, he needs to pay for them. Her income is irrelevant. She doesn’t get to check out so neither does he.
the amounts he’s telling you are false. It would be about £440 a month on his salary.

I have seen it, my son would not be trying to get money from us as we don't have much, if he moves back home then he wouldn't be able to see his children once this court case is over as its just to far away.

Could it be that he didn't give any figures due to his mental health crisis so they have gone on his ex's figures, assumed he has never paid anything and don't know about his time out of work. Or maybe he put his gross figure in as net.

I respectfully disagree with others about the older child. If he sees her as his child and wants rights to see her, then he should pay and financially taking care of her might strengthen his case for access.

I would get on the portal with him, check all the figures in detail and send CMS payslips, proof of hospitalisation, proof of payments to his ex, etc

Hi op do the cms not have a duty of care for his income not to put him into poverty? I would get legal advice or speak to citizens advice because him being homeless and jobless doesn’t help his kids or him. You read so many issues on here about men not paying anything for kids could he get 50/50 custody this apparently helps with cms.

You don’t seem to be listening.

The number you have posted are simply not true and there is no way to make them true. You can go online and calculate for yourself.

CMS get a lot wrong, but when they have the correct figure for your salary, the calculation is automatic and is never really wrong. They are simply not taking £700 as his standard payment. It just isn’t true.

For back pay, they will not leave him with £500. And it is simply impossible for him to have £9000 of arrears anyway, as they don’t take money when unemployed so he doesn’t owe anything for half the time the back pay is being calculated for.

No one here is going to be able to help you because the figures you’ve given are simply not true. Best I can say is tell him to go to his MP for help if they really are doing this. But they’re not.

OP those numbers don't stack up at all. Someone isn't telling the truth

Not everyone lives near their children.

And when they live long distance, they make arrangements accordingly.

Access can be sorted but you're saying you're worried he's going to kill himself, so that should be the priority right now.

You ds is a parent, supporting his dc isn't optional. They still need food and clothes.

If he lived with his dc, would you suggest he stopped feeding them for a month in order to prioritise himself, or would you expect him to prioritise his dc's basic needs and then get by himself, even if it means using a food bank or skipping some meals?

It sounds like both you and he think that him leaving his partner somehow absolved him of responsibility for the dc.

Can he not send in his P60 to CMS for the last couple of years to show what he has earnt over the two years since the split, or a tax return if he is self employed

The maximum they can take is deductions is 40% of his net income. So again, no where near the £1700 you claim they are taking.

Their system simply doesn’t allow a calculation higher than that for arrears plus basic monthly payment. It doesn’t happen.

And if the 40% causes financial hardship, they always make a payment plan for less as long as you stick to it.

Nothing you have posted is true. Your son is lying.