CSA advice?

[rach971]

Cut a long story short - the relationship between me and DD's dad is progressively diminishing due to the way he's started acting since getting a girlfriend.

Whilst he's still paying me (we just have an agreement between ourselves currently), I want to know more info on CSA so I can be prepared in case I need to go down that route.

• Do I just apply for it online?

• What info do they require? How do they know what he earns, do they contact him?

• Do I have to give reasons why I want to start claiming CSA? E.g. I'd have to explain why things have gone south between me and him?

• He lives a couple of hours away and comes to see DD every other week, plus she stays at his a few times a year and he takes her on one or two holidays per year. Do they factor all of this in (e.g. the fact he's paying petrol money out to get to and from here, pays for the holiday(s) etc?)

• Any other advice anyone has?

Obviously hopefully it won't come to that but I'm the kind of person that likes to be organised in advance and know what to do if needed

Thank you x

What has changed since he got a girlfriend? The money?

You just apply to the CMS online. Submit a claim with your details and they do the rest. You can see as you fill in the form what reductions are applied based on how much the child stays with him.

I’ve just put a claim in through the CMS a few weeks ago and it was really straight forward to do. It does ask how often they stay over at paying parents house and if paying parent has any other children they pay for but don’t think they would take into account how much it costs them to get to see the children. The more information you can give them about the paying parent the quicker it will be for them to sort out.

@yogasaurus There's honestly too much to list but lying, getting my daughter to lie about things, shouting at her down the phone (he's literally never done any of this before). He just seems to be going more and more downhill parenting wise 🤦‍♀️ I just want to be prepared in case anything does happen, or, if me and him end up not talking I'd rather have a proper agreement in place (as I said we've previously done it between us as we've got along well).

Brilliant thank you. I did do the calculator online (I'm aware that won't be 100% accurate) which asks how often she stays there. But obviously with him coming here every couple of weeks and spending money on petrol I didn't know whether they'd take that into account or not. It also suggests I'm entitled to quite a bit more than he currently gives me. Which I'm not bothered about, but at the same time it'd be more money for daughter's savings account!

@ShineBright1209 Thank you. Do you have to give them details as to why you're applying? I'm not bothered if you do, I just can't be bothered having to type an essay out 🤣🤣

No it doesn’t ask why you’re applying. When it was asking for paying parents details it asked how I knew certain things like how I knew he was claiming benefits and how I knew his phone number I think. We don’t have any contact with each other so I just answered along the lines of I had been told by a family member. I think that’s just so they have an idea of how accurate the information you’re giving them is. We were together a long time so luckily I knew personal details like his d.o.b and NI number.

Hi OP he can apply for a variation to take into account his travel expenses incurred in having contact with his child.

I was going to go on to say how much this annoys me but will leave it as just the facts!

@OhamIreally Thank you, I didn't know that! Thought he only comes here once every other week (though it probably costs a lot in fuel as it's a couple of hours each way). I wonder in what way that would affect the payment amount? To be honest as long as I don't end up with less than what I currently get I wouldn't be bothered

It might just even out @rach971 and he might not think to look into the variation. My ex is all over his CMS payment to ensure he doesn't pay a single penny more than he's legally obliged to.

The other positive is that CMS reassess your ex's income each year using HMRC records so if he has had a pay rise you will get one too.

@OhamIreally I had a good Google earlier and there was some info on how CMS work variations out regarding travel etc. I believe I'd still be entitled to more than I get now even after travel costs are factored in. Although I don't think he would think to look into it tbh.

Really appreciate your help though as it's something I'd never have even realised!