Cancel cms?

[HoneyBlossoms]

Has anyone ever cancelled child maintenance or doesn't claim it? The payments are ridiculously low so it's not even worth me claiming I am tempted to cancel, has anyone done the same?

A penny is a penny.

Open up a savings account and divert the payments there and forget about it.

It will all add up in the end

Pennies 🫣 honestly don't need pennies and isn't worth claiming pennies?

It probably irritates the hell out of him that he has to pay it. 😉

Irritates someone paying £7 a week? Honestly I'd be laughing if that's all I had to pay! So I doubt it unfortunately

Cancelling it would be more effort than letting it be paid into your bank account.

If you believe that you have the right to pay nothing then £7 a week would be irritating.

You can cancel online so it's just a click, just wondering if anyone has actually done this.

No he finds it funny sadly.

Just take it, £28 can get you a treat for the kids at least.

If you don't need it and he pays a small amount honestly invest it in a junior ISA for your child's future

£7 a week is better in your pocket than his.

They'd get treats with or without it as it makes no difference

Honestly he can keep it.

I know it's tempting, but it's sometimes worth keeping the claim open in case his circumstances change. I worked on one very satisfying case where the guy inherited a lot and then bragged to his ex she still wouldn't get anything, not realising that interest on savings counts as unearned income.

And from working at CMS for a while I can tell you that the angriest men about having to pay were very often the ones paying the few quid a week from the benefits. I lost count of the number of them that shouted about the unfairness of it.

There's no inheritance due unfortunately

I'm on a few cms groups and I'd say I disagree with that. The most angry ones seem to be the ones paying £400+ one laughed at me and asked me if he could have my exes details so he could find out how to get away paying so little.

That may be the case on the sites you were on, but wasn't remotely my experience when working there

I’d keep it and put it in a savings account so that in years to come you DC will see exactly how much their father contributed. Let his efforts speak for themselves.

Cancel it then 🤷🏻‍♀️

Keep it open. This way he can never claim to your dc that he wanted to pay and you "wouldn't let him".

Plus my ex came up with multiple women he knew who didn't claim from their ex, so why should I from him. Dont be one of those women.

FWIW I haven't had a penny for over 10 years. £7 would have made things slightly easier.

Why ask if you have made your mind up? Genuine question. It’s still money for your kids that will add up over time if you stick it in a savings account and forget it. Or do you want to cancel, so you can legitimately say he never paid for them/I did it all myself? Take the money - its a pathetic amount (separate issue and whole other thread) but he owes it to your kids and should pay it.

Over 10 years that could be over £3500 saved for your child - take it and save it

It's not always £7 it's £7 when he isn't in debts

£7 is the same as not paying, it's basically nothing, I didn't ask for people to convince me I asked if anyone else has cancelled and people are commenting who haven't

Not one child and sadly it's not consistent he often owes debts so I haven't had anything for up to a year at a time, Hes started paying £7 again recently so depends how long that last before he needs to pay off debts again and it stops