CMS and whether to pursue

[Ncforthiscms]

NC for this sorry

7 years ago when my youngest were babies, my ex had an affair and we split up. They had a baby months later.

For years we went through court - first for finances, then for custody.

In all this time contact has been on/off mostly because ex is unreliable and kept saying he had to care for the new baby, and that he couldn't afford contact.

In reality he works part-time, has no mortgage following our financial split, and was only given EOW by the courts.

No CMS has ever been paid - with a gentlemans agreement of he won't pay while he sticks to the EOW order. He could then use the money for the kids.

He hasn't had the kids since 2024....no plans to have them again. I have significantly more income than him, hence never chasing CMS and the fear of him going nuclear by stopping contact.

WIBU to now claim CMS?

CMS is there to make sure a non resident parent contributes towards the cost of raising their child.
Doesn’t matter if the resident parent is a millionaire or living in poverty…
Doesn’t matter if they go on have another 6 children with someone else, it’s still their responsibility to provide for their children.
If you decide not to pursue it then it’s up to you but personally I would

put in a claim
he should be contributing even if it’s peanuts

Put in a claim, if he’s still only working part time, you probably won’t get much, but worthwhile trying.

Yeh even if you put it in a savings account for the kids it is more that the other parent should be providing for their kids. I understand not wanting to cause drama... are you worried about him wanting contact again just as revenge for going to CMS? but i also think he feels he can't control the situation, so take the control away.

I really don't care anymore if he does or doesn't have contact...it makes no difference to me. For the kids though he needs to stop messing them about.
I think I'm worried I'll be labelled the bad guy to all & sundry, there was a lot of mummy has pushed me into poverty when we first split as I kept the family home with the children.
I also don't know how he'll react.
CMS say he should give £100 per week.

Do it! Although £100 a week sounds alot, based off what my partner pays I doubt it'll be that much, and he works full time

Yes claim it, even if you put it into a savings account for the DC it will help them with driving lessons, go to uni etc.

CMS is the legal minimum he should pay, it won’t be much but it’s the principle.

Yeh my ex tells my two very young kids i will make him homeless abd he's going bankrupt due to CMS... but then he buys a heated pool and goes on holiday.
The money belongs to the children. Therefore all you are doing is making sure the kid's get what they are entitled to, and CMS decided the amount, not you.