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End of tether with ex -should I stop DD's contact? - any advice welcome

8 replies

stifupalip · 10/05/2012 21:59

Please help, any advice welcomed:

-Ex and I have been separated for 6 years.
-For first few years contact was regular & he paid a fair monthly amount of maintenance.
-For work reasons I then relocated with DC and my ex stopped contact (other than occasional phone calls)& also stopped maintenance
-I held off contacting CSA as he said his financial circumstances were difficult and that he would make up what he owed once sale of house had gone through
-After several months I realised this was not going to happen and contacted CSA. They assessed his payments at just over £5 p/w
-He was and remains very angry that I did this and things are not as amicable as they once were
-We now live closer to him and his new family again and he sees our DC regularly and they enjoy a close relationship and he does seem to want to include DC in his life
-However, I have recently found out that he has been leading the CSA a merry dance and had not declared a change of circumstances to them.
-I feel very disappointed for our DC when ex acts to all intents and purposes as if he is a responsible dad but continually shirks financial responsibility.
-The CSA are now undertaking a reassessment but this doesn't change the fact he has managed to evade fair contributions to a significant length of time
-We can no longer communicate with each other as I am very angry about the situation and he accuses me of being 'all about the money' and insists that what is more important is him playing an active role in DC's life.
-Whilst I want him to be involved, in my opinion that also means being a financially responsible parent.
-When I have tried to discuss this his standard line is 'so you're going to stop me seeing DC then - you are using money to limit access'
-To date I have never threatened this as I feel I am being goaded by him into saying it and part of me thinks it is what he wants to hear as it lets him off the hook (he has another child he doesn't see or pay for and when challenged his line is 'she will seek me out when she is older and hear the truth then!')
-I have never wanted to stop DC seeing him as never felt it was the right thing to do, but am at the end of my tether and feel I am being played for a fool and not sure I can face several more years of him parading around like superdad whilst I pick up all the bills. I just want him to do his share...help and thankyou!

OP posts:
Beebacksoon · 10/05/2012 22:03

No you shouldn't stop contact.

fuckarama · 10/05/2012 22:08

You moved. If I was your ex that would piss me right off.

You shouldn't stop contact.

It's not related to paying maintenance.

happyhappymummy · 10/05/2012 22:29

Im sorry to hear the stress you have been under! It is very hard being a single parent and sometimes we make decisions to better our future for our children. Your move was obviously to benefit you and your children.
Yes he should bloody be a financially responsible parent. Who do these men think they are?
The thing is he is your childrens father no matter what you feel towards him and believe me I know how frustrating it can be knowing they are living it up and we as single mums have to deal with the every day tasks and finances. But hey your children will thank you for this one day.
Keep up the good work.

Olympia2012 · 10/05/2012 22:36

No, you have no right to stop it

Children are not 'pay per view'!

cestlavielife · 10/05/2012 22:56

Give him more contact time so he has to spend more on them on food activities and so on.

msrantsalot · 11/05/2012 02:35

Don't stop contact. He wants to act like the "wronged dad" and be a martyr. If you stop contact you will probably be playing into his hands. I would ask him to have more contact, say Fri night-sat night and you can get yourself a Saturday job to help with the money and then you'll be the good parent doing all she can to support her child and you wont need his money. He wont be able to say a bad thing about you. If he refuses to take the extra responsibility then he's not the super parent he is making himself out to be, is he?

limetimemummy · 11/05/2012 09:30

-We now live closer to him and his new family again and he sees our DC regularly and they enjoy a close relationship and he does seem to want to include DC in his life
This is the bit you need to focus on. While I fully understand how hard it is financially as a single parent you can't let the issue of whether money is being paid for maintenance or not have an impact on contact time. He should be making regular payments however you can not link this to the amount of contact that you permit/agree to.

Focus on the positive, you and your ex have managed to get to a situation where your DC are able to see and spend time with both parents.

I agree with cestlavielife, the more contact time he has with the DC the more he will be financially contributing to them anyway.

I can genuinely say I would happily relinquish monthly money received via the CSA if I could get my ex to have regular contact with DD because this is the bit that is important to her. I had the dilema of considering stopping contact because it was so sporadic and infrequent that it was upsetting my DD. Ultimately I didn't although this weekend will only be the 2nd time this year that he has actually made an effort to see her.

Good luck. Keep chasing the CSA for the finance element as they do sometimes need a bit of a push.

ChocHobNob · 11/05/2012 09:36

What about the children in all of this? Stopping the ex's contact will be punishing them too, not just him.

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