Is there a precedent for taking exH to court to support DD through uni?

[theredlion]

ExH and I were married for 10 years, DD was planned and loved.
Then when DD was 6 we split and he lost contact with her, despite my best efforts over the years he doesn't want to see her and she is heartbroken.

Getting maintenance has been a constant battle, the CSA now take maintenance from his wages, without question as he's been so difficult. He changes jobs and doesn't tell them frequently, the CSA have chased him via HMRC a few times.

I have felt for a long time that a court order may be better but I don't know.

DD wants to go to Uni next year, is there any way we can proceed so he makes a contribution to her Uni costs?

I can see that enforcement could be a problem babybarrister. His CSA payments are sporadic - when he is earning he earns quite a bit so monthly maintenance is typically £1000 plus. Or nothing.

DD does have a weekend job and she's already saving, of course I will provide additional support at uni but it would be very useful if she had two parents doing this. Especially as exH earns so much when he does earn. Just a couple of months of those £1000 payments in a year could keep her in tins of beans ad nauseum.

What a bastard this man is.

I had a deal with my ex that he would continue to pay maintenance for each child until they finished university and he did do this. However, when we completed the forms for each child's grants/loans then only my income was taken into account.

Yes it may be possible legally ( although by no means certain and would presumably cost money to apply)but it would be a bugger to enforce if he already has past form for avoiding paying,

I was under the impression and please do correct me if I'm wrong that a court order has more 'weight' than the CSA?

In theory the CSA can instruct bailiffs but in my experience they don't. He owes thousands though that's mainly because of the size of his payments, in fact he earns for about 10 months of the year then job hops a couple of times during the year. He can do this because he has specialist skills. Sadly they don't run to parenting.

One of my frustrations has been the amount of time up to 8 months in my case that it takes the CSA to find out his employers, slap on a deduction of earnings...then a few months down the line the whole circus goes again.

I realise the CSA wouldn't be involved post 19.

If you want my non legal; advice I would leave it. He is not going to pay willingly or even grudgingly , he has no contact with his dd - time to draw a line and for dd to get on with her adult life.

A court order doesn't really have any more weight than the CSA. What matters is enforcement. If you get a court order and he ignores it you will have to go back to court to get it enforced. Provided you are willing to do that a court order will be more effective than the CSA has been.