ExH has been in and out of DS' s life since we split 5 years ago. We split due to his gambling addiction and I believe he is possibly now also an alcoholic. Maintenance was as sporadic as his contact, he never set up a direct debit or standing order as his account wouldn't allow it. As far as I know he is in and out of employment and constantly moving house.
Last year I went to cms to make maintenance more official. We started on direct pay but again this became sporadic and so in March I asked to be switched to collect and pay. He was told to pay me £7pw but when he did pay it would be more (often £20). I haven't had any money since February.
I called CMS on Thursday to see what they had to say after receiving another "we tried to collect payment from Mr.... but we're unsuccessful" letter. They are in the process of trying to track his bank accounts etc.
I have just looked at my account and seen a standing order payment of £20 from him. So here is the wwyd.
Do I contact him and tell him to call cms to sort out the collect and pay? I really don't want to initiate contact.
Do I tell cms to go back to direct pay - I don't believe he will stick to this, are there consequences with cms if I keep changing?
Can he pay via collect and pay and pay extra if he so chooses?
Although contact with our DS (who is 7) should be an entirely separate matter I think this is a sign he will be wanting to make contact soon. I really don't want to allow it as my son is very negatively impacted by constantly being let down by his Dad. His Dad has been made aware of this on several occaisions and warned that this decision to not allow further contact may be made - of course he is entirely entitled to go to court to fight this but I don't think he has the fire in his belly to do so.