child maintenence ending

[specialgal3]

Hello

         I have forgotten when maintenence for my two children aged 11 and 14 is due to stop. I wrote to my solicitor who quoted me quite a sum to dig up my file.Ive lost touch with the childrens father who works with the nhs.anyone any idea what the usual cut off point for child maintenence generally is? thanks

18 in my dh's case.

16 in mine

I have 2 children the same age and currently negotiating a financial settlement.

I strongly feel that, providing children go on to university, maintenance should be paid for themtill they are 21.

18 is old fashioned now - a relic to the time when kids could leave school at 18 and get awell paid job. those days are over now and maintenance needs to be paid longer.

The CSA says 16 years or until the end of full time education.

Your legal agreeemnt may say something different but if it was made after 2003 and is over a year old then the CSA rules overide it anyway.

21?! maddness! non divorced parents aren't legally required to support their children in to adulthood, why should divorced ones be?

non divorced parents don't have to be legally forced to support their dc at university because they do it anyway.

No they don't! If your ex husband isn't inclined to want to support his children without being 'legally forced' e is unlikely to have wanted to do so if still married to you.

Some parents are twats and don't want to support their offspring. The CSA exists to make sure that whilst they are children, they don't have any choice. But past 18, no parent has to support their child.

Anyway, I wouldn't get too worked up about it. Those agreements only last a year so it's not relevent.

Most kids don't live at home whilst at Uni either, so if maintenance was to be paid, it should be directly to the child. Kids are allowed to move out of the family home and be self-sufficient from 16, I moved out of my mums at 18 and stayed in fulltime education till I was 23. While it would have been nice for my dad to continue the maintenance, I certainly wouldn't have seen a penny of it!

Hi specialgal3

Maintenance falls into 2 parts:

1. Child maintenance - if this isn't agreed then in most cases only the CSA can deal with it, and they've recently changed their website www.csa.gov.uk/. A "child" is defined as up to 16 years of age or ending secondary education (which ever is the later)

2.Spousal maintenance - this is the bit which should have been set out in a financial remedy (used to be called ancillary relief) court order, which are usually made by consent because there is agreement. However, as you don't say whetheryou were married/divorced, and this bit only applies if you were divorced.

Hope this helps

Agree - you can't compel a parent to pay for an adult. If a parent wants to contribute for their teen whilst at Uni then it should be paid directly to the teen (or for accommodation fees). It crazy to label it child maintenance when we are dealing with adults.

In answer to the question, my understanding is that CSA payments cease when child benefit ends.

Scottish jurisdiction until end of Uni, England and Wales end of school (not the day they leave but like child benefit the day before the first Monday in Sept (if they leave at the end of Summer term), unless they get a full time job first.

In E&W the court has jurisdiction to order child maintenance until the end of full-time education, and that includes higher education. Those posting above have gone off the CSA's rules. After the end of Secondary Education the court acquires jurisdiction : see s29(3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.