Child Maintenance

[taffy2013]

Hi everyone
New to this so I'm sorry if I've posted in the wrong place, My Husbands Daughter has come to live with us and we have applied for child maintenance and the mother hasn't replied and they have called her and she wont pick up with held numbers does anyone know what happens next please, the mother is working but I cant seem to find the next step online Many Thanks

I'm no expert but I would have thought you'd apply to the CSA and get them to sort it out, the same as is supposed to happen with absent fathers.

The Child Maintenance Service will try to contact her a certain amount of times, if they receive no reply they will calculate maintenance based on the latest information they can get HRMC and set out a payment schedule.

Your husband will also get the letter with the amount and dates the payments should be made. If she doesn't make the first payment (you need to wait 5 business days after the first payment is due) you can try move to collect and pay service,

I suggest he follow up very carefully by calling the CMS whenever a deadline is due or past. I applied in February and I am still awaiting any payment; the final step being getting the maintenance deducted directly from my ex-husband's pay.

Thank You for that, do you no how long they try to contact her for? before moving to the next step, we know they wont get a reply as she just stick's her head in the sand and hopes it goes away.

My ex was like that too! He still is even as they are going to garnish his wages, it's so stupid.

I can't remember how many times they try to contact the other party but I remember the first payment was supposed to be April 1st so 2 months after I originally opened the case.

If your husband calls the CMS they will give him all the information.

Thank You very much

My first payment was due in April after applying in Jan. They are moving to take it out of his salary, and have been told it would take maybe 2 months if not more. The more payments missed the higher future payments will be to recoup the outstanding.

Keep calling them, or register online and message regularly. Keep proof of any money you do receive. And then you just have to sit back and wait, prob for several months.

Yes, from the time they get in touch with the paying parent's employer it can take up to 8 weeks to get your first payment.

Thank You

Hubby called them this morning they wrote to her again on Thursday and will try to contact her via Phone, and if they get no reply by Friday, first thing Monday they are going for a detachment of earnings, so fingers crossed it doesn't take too long now, They said they were going to contact her employer today to make sure she is still working there and we know she is, so hopefully will be straight forward from now.

Good luck! I hope it goes smoothly for you.