when do csa payments stop?

[kelloo1]

My OH pays maintenance for his 18yo son. He doesn't have contact with him anymore but csa have told him that his son is attending college and the payments will continue until he finishes his course. Was just wondering when the payments stop as we thought it would be when he turns 18 but i've read somewhere it's either 19 or 20?! OH is not disputing that he has to pay, but the csa are not very helpful and don't tell you much. TIA

I thought 18. sorry not much help.

actually you know I've been thinking about this all day and I actually thought 16, unless the child is still in school then 18, it seems a bit tough to expect to still pay the other parent to mind the child when they are past 18.

The father should be giving the money directly to his child at that age so that he can learn to manage and support himself.

But that is just an opinion. I would suggest calling the CSA and asking them but I have tried to talk to them in the past and the answer you get depends on the operative you talk to and it is never the same answer. Try their website maybe? although I wouldn't have much faith in that TBH.

Erm, sorry, I'm very cynical when it comes to the CSA and the organisation that is now in charge (can't remember their name but they are equally useless).

I think I remember hearing that CSA payments should continue until the same time that Child Benefit stops so:

You can normally still get Child Benefit after your child leaves school or college if they were entered for exams before they left. The exams must be for the course they were doing before they left - and the course must have counted for Child Benefit.

Once your child has finished their last exam, your Child Benefit will normally carry on from the date of the last exam until the week that includes the earliest of:

last day of February
31 May
31 August
30 November

Your Child Benefit will stop straightaway if any of the following happen after your child has left school or college:

your child starts paid work for 24 hours a week or more
your child gets certain benefits, such as Income Support or Employment and Support Allowance, or tax credits in their own right
your child reaches the age of 20

You will need to report any of these changes to the Child Benefit Office.

I've always read this:

it ceases if the child is 16 and goes to work, or up to 19 if in full-time non-advanced education (which includes A levels or equivalent, but Higher education does not count as non-advanced).

But I can't find it anywhere on the gov.uk sites any more to reference it.

My just 19 yr old is still at college. I still get CB but CSA stopped at his 19th birthday, although CSA didn't bother telling me until a month after.

thanks for all your replies. csa are rubbish when we ring them and as www said, it does depend on who get. the course he was doing at college was only 2 years so i assume he would have finished by now (he is 18 and started when he left school) When my OH has rang csa before to get confirmation that he is actually attending college they said they just go by CB that the mother will be receiving. In other words I don't think they actually check if he is at college they just go by what benefits his mum gets. Which to me isn't proof that he is at college. Might get OH to ring csa again and just get them to check. And he would rather pay the money direct to his son (at least then he knows it's going where it should) but the mother wants it paying to herself instead.

Ok, so OH has been in touch with csa and they have told him the payments will stop when his son is 19, as long as he is attending college. OH told them his 2 year course has finished so they have now opened a case for his claim. They will obviously get in touch with his ex now to see what is going on but will they ask her for proof or just go by what benefits she is claiming?