Maintenance and hiding income

[6gallonsaday]

Can anyone help, my ex is telling the child maintenance agency he earns a few thousand each year. He is self employed and I'm as sure as I can be that he has an accountant fiddling the books. His real income is closer to £150k, more if i add things like rental income. Child maintenance say that there is nothing they can do, and only recommend I contact hmrc fraud (I've done that via their online form, but they don't agree to do anything and say they won't keep you informed).

Has anyone been in a similar situation and figured out how to get a truthful picture on the record? I've tried online research, that gives me pages talking about how the government has given lots of new powers to child maintenance over the years to render them very effective, yet they don't seem to be able to do anything at all. I could try a variation order but don't have any hard evidence, which is what child maintenance say I would need. My ex isn't listed anywhere I can find online, his social media is locked down. We don't have any contacts in common, I don't live anywhere nearby. I can't afford a private investigator.

He hasn't seen his children in years, it's crazy to think they don't cost anything. I'm not trying to obtain more than whatever he should reasonably pay to support them.

Thanks for any ideas.

I have no really helpful advice here other than to say you are absolutely not the first woman to ask these questions and it’s really really common to find self employed men hiding their income from the CMS. And the CMS doing F all about it. You could try and gather as much evidence as you can. I’d be thinking private investigator that sort of thing. Sorry you’re going through this!! X

When I research online, everything I read makes it sound really easy to get this sorted out, all sorts of articles about the powers given to child maintenance to address this. But the reality is the opposite.

I was on the phone on hold for over an hour to get through today to try to explore what i could do. Then the child maintenance agency person i spoke to seemed to just shrug and say sorry, there's nothing we can do. They suggested contacting hmrc fraud, but hmrc fraud just say to fill in a completely generic form with no follow up. And that seems to be the end of the road, unless I get hard proof. The whole point is that ex is hiding the income, so how would I get proof - he isn't going to send me his bank statements!

What happens after you fill the form in?? As I said I have no experience but you could try holding them to account if there is any legal recourse if they take no action? X

I don't think there is anything I can do after I fill the hmrc fraud form in. There is no recourse, because hmrc fraud are under no obligation to investigate anything I say. And when I filled it in, it specifically advised me that hmrc won't keep me updated in any way, or give me any update if I try to follow up.

And child maintenance were already clear that they can't/won't do anything more without hmrc figuring it out for them.

I feel really powerless while he gets away with leaving the full burden on me. I know it isn't even a slightly rare occurrence that this happens but that doesn't make it any easier.

No advice but it's just so sad when so called fathers don't step up for their kids. Hoping the pride men took in being a respectable role model and providing for their family hasn't gone for the majority. Sad state of affairs.

Is his business online?

Realistically there isn't anything you can do my ex recently had a thirty plus thousand inheritance and child maintenance refused to take it into account to take his arrears off him they sounded quite scathing when I asked about it "no we cannot compell him to use his money like that"...like what ma'am? On his own children? The ones he frequently dodges payment for? The ones he chooses not to see? Those children? I've been accused of being heartless about it because someone has died to give him that money! Yes the person he claims to have "cared" for and who died of neglect pretty sure they would rather the kids had the money not my ex 🤔

I think he might be finding a way to get himself paid very little monthly but then taking dividends, or something like that? This is as much as I understand about the kind of loopholes there are, that men use to evade paying child maintenance. I've been trying to find any old threads that might cover something similar. Haven't found any with any solutions yet.

If he pays tax on the dividends CMS can check that with HMRC. It took almost 2 years to get the right payment from my ex so it does take time and you feel helpless most of the time. Could you speak to your MP to ask them to assist?

I was in a similar position. My ex wasn't truthful about his income. I got advice and tried to fight it but they weren't interested in following it up too much. Womens rights have a long way to come when it comes to the courts. I didn't get it and just managed myself. He doesn't see his kids either. The frustration with it all gave me the motivation to keep going and succeed on my own! If you can find a way to get it off him though, do. Kids aren't free or made by only women, no matter how many people blame single moms

Thank you. One person at CM told me there was absolutely nothing they could do, another has now said that actually there is quite a bit more investigating they can do. So, if they genuinely mean that, and will at least look at his finances more closely, I don't feel quite as powerless. But it also sounds like it could take months, or years to figure it out and that's quite depressing. If they don't look like they are figuring it out, I think contacting my MP would be a logical next step.

If he’s taking dividends it must be a limited company. Have you looked on Companies House? You can search by his name if you don’t know the company name.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/01769103/filing-history

Get over yourself Gingerbread. They have an ongoing campaign and lots of excellent advice. Have you applied for a variation and asked for investigations for diversion of income? That is what you need to do now. Keep on at them. It's tiresome, it really is. Gather as much evidence as you can. Don't assume HMRC won't do anything, they do. They even check things like Nectar and Clubcards. They just don't tell you. Keep reporting him every time you find something out. I'd also possibly consider a tracing agent as they can and will do a report on their circumstances for a fee.

I've just realised I typed "get over yourself Gingerbread" 🤣. No idea what happened there! I meant "get yourself over to Gingerbread". I hope that makes more sense! It's a great site and very useful for single parents.

Thank you, I'll see whether they have any insights I haven't found elsewhere.

Nothing in his name in Companies House that I've found, just a previous company he dissolved.

Yes my ex did this. They do love a bit of dissolving. Keep on at the CMS, you have to be a nuisance. Also contact your MP. Mine (now gone thank God) was utterly shit but he was a wealthy Tory MP who didn't have a clue about the realities of life for most of us. I know plenty of people who have had success after MP involvement. You've nothing to lose. I hate men.