Child maintenance - is it worth it?

[CatCowMeowMeow]

Hey, first time posting here.

I have been separated for a few years now and have never received any money from our ex for our child, who only lives with me. I've never pushed the issue, but as costs are rising with child's age (activities, shoes, clothes, school lunches, uniform etc) I'm thinking of applying through CMS.

My ex and I don't communicate directly due to history of DV and he is not a reasonable person at all, so no chance of him just agreeing to pay.

He is self employed and always used to claim benefits while asking for payments in cash for jobs he did. I am not sure if he still does that but he will no doubt be declaring minimal income to avoid tax.

Is it even worth it for me to apply through CMS? Do they just go by his self declarations to HMRC or do they ask for additional proof, i.e bank statements etc?

Thanks in advance.

It's worth a shot as long as you're prepared to do without any payments at all (which you're already doing). You don't have anything to lose.

My friend gets £8 a week from self employed ex claiming to earn under £100/wk when his day rate is £120, she decided it wasn’t worth the stress and the hassle and told him if he was that destitute he could keep his £8x

My exH pays his CMS-calculated child support to the penny. I'd love to tell him to keep his 96p.

GreatestShowUnicorn I can really relate to that. My attitude this far has been that if he wants to be the kind of dad that doesn't pay for his child, then that is his choice. I've chosen never to push for it as I think it says more about him as a person and if I need to beg for the money then he can just keep it, I'll manage like I always have.

But now he is taking me through the courts for contact and it's costing me a fortune, it's making me resentful that he goes off on holidays etc whilst I scrape together money for rent and legal fees.

So now I am thinking of taking the step and trying to get him to pay something towards our child's upbringing.

Why these men behave this way I will never understand...

The initial calculation will be based on income declared to HMRC for tax.

However, you can appeal for more child maintenance if his lifestyle (e.g. cars, holidays) appears to be at odds with that level of income.