he claims to be on zero income but he must have some money!!

[WelshCat]

ugh. little rant.

exp and i broke up when i was pregnant, he has never had contact but he will be getting it soon as we have just been to court.

he never paid maintenance, even though i worked out on csa calculator he should have been paying £46 a week coz he was earning loads. he was working cash in hand though, and then got his boss to pretend to sack him so he could go on benefits and claim legal aid. so we went to court and he is gonna be seeing DS soon. then when i put in a claim with csa they told me he was on benefits so i would get £5 a week.

but the other day i got a letter saying he now has zero income so wont be paying anything. my problem with this is... i thought you had to be on benefits to get legal aid? so how is he still getting it! and also what kind of horrible man cancels his benefit claim to get out of £5 a week maintenance!! what is he living off?

i presume he is still working cash in hand in his old job, or criminal things. (he has a history of ill-gotten funds from things like that..)

but how mean! and im seriously wondering about the legal aid.

You don't have to be on benefits to qualify for legal aid. You just need to have disposable income below a certain amount ... and earning £0 (or claiming to) would pretty much cover that. If he is working cash in hand, all you can really do is report him to the relevant department for that. Or if you have evidence that he is living beyond the means of someone with nil income, you could apply for a variation with the CSA for "lifestyle inconsistent with income". They do ask you to do the donkey work and provide them with clear evidence though, they wont do the running around.

Welshcat - You may find that threatening to report him for tax evasion may 'encourage' him to be more forthcoming with money to support his child.

If you actually want to report him for tax evasion, you can do it online here.

Good luck!

As others have said, if you have proof report him to csa/inland revenue.

He should be paying for his child, what a prick! You have my sympathy.

For legal aid you just need to be on a low income. I know that as I used to qualify as a student before I started receiving childcare allowance.

Could he be self-employed? Most new businesses make a loss in the first couple of years, so for the purposes of CSA his income will be zero despite no benefits.

he's not self employed. well, he is, he employs himself to sell drugs!

he used to anyway, im not sure he ever stopped, but that would explain why he has no declared income. i decided to report him to HMRC for tax evasion. hopefully theyll find something out.

i know it sounds mean of me to do that but i am disgusted that someone would cancel their benefit claim to get out of paying five pound a week to support their son! a son who apparently means so much to him he cant possibly live without seeing him and building a relationship.

grr!

Don't feel mean. He should support his child, just as you do.
I've recently uncovered the lies my ex has been telling the CSA. They will be asking him to show how he's been supporting himself and can check tax credits etc.

I await the inevitable backlash but it hAs gone on for too long.

I hope it gets sorted out for you.