Child maintenance question.

[Sumotwins]

So ex (eldest kids dad not my recent ex) left his job in June of 2022 with a small (£6000) payout. Since then he has been claiming to be living off that money with no employment and family/ friends.
I have put in a few requests for recalculations over the last 14 months and it has always come back that he has ‘0’ income. Tonight I called and spoke to them at length and they said he is still claiming to be supported by family/ friends and not have any income.
he runs a nice car, lives nicely and I just don’t see it tbh. Child maintenance service say they have to take his word for it and that his other ex has taken it through a Mandatory reconsideration etc without success.
surely he needs to prove this alleged financial support and no income. I know his family and I know they are not financially in a position to support him- only mum and sister alive, no property etc.
im positive he is doing cash in hand jobs but I can’t prove that.
do I just have to accept defeat?

Unfortunately the burden of proof lies with you, not him. It has to be this way, otherwise innocent people would have to be answering malicious accusers all the time. This does mean however that it makes your job more difficult.

If you think he is earning an income you could hire a private detective to find out?

Yes you do sorry. My ex pays no maintenance as isn't working or claiming benefits he does however have a 3 bed flat and rents out the rooms. I can't prove it and cms won't do anything about it. He hasn't paid in 6 years.

If you go over to the petitions board on mumsnet there is a petition to try to change the calculation rules because I’m stuck in a similar unfair situation. X

The trouble with the petition is what does it hope to achieve? No one is happy about the situation that people are subduing incomes not just for CM but also because they're not paying their fair share of tax. But how do you catch people out?

It’s a start, it’s a talking point. If there are better ways then I would love for you to share 🙂

yes, accept defeat and move on. In the long run it is his loss

Personally I would give back the power to the courts and base it on ability to pay because CMS are useless and statutory calculations can be unfair/unworkable.

You can also ask for mandatory reconsideration of a decision - think there is a time limit though. You can also appeal. The £6k might have supported him for a bit, but not this long. Could he be self employed? It might be a while before he has to declare his income to HMRC. If he isn't working, surely he is entitled to some benefit? If you have the strength to engage in the lengthy process with the CMS and appeal then do so. No one can live on fresh air.

I was just going to reply, had a letter today to say that he has been in employment since September and should be paying £366 a month which is his monthly amount plus some of the arrears he owes from the last 4 years🙄🙄🙄.
I called them to ask why they didn’t know this when I did a mandatory reconsideration and apparently his paye didn’t flag up to them from hmrc.
there is no way he is going to pay me that without a battle so I guess I’ll be going through the DOE process like I had to before all of this saga.
At least they have recognised that I was correct in challenging his zero award.

I am so glad at least you have got this far. I am in a similar position, my ex who lives in a 3m flat in Knightsbridge and has millions literally stashed abroad has volunteered to be made redundant and I just received a letter from the CMS that he is now not obliged to pay me the 300 pounds per month he paid for few months, while still continuing to spend 450 for an hour sex "massage"... I just posted on this. I called the CMS in tears but they were totally disinterested they said the only thing I can do is to report him to the tax fraud office....I would be interested to know more about the DOE process....