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Husband has had a unknown child pop up we didn't know about what does this mean if the CSA comes after him?

354 replies

Cheekychica10 · 01/02/2017 21:30

Ok I have two children with my husband a preschooler and a baby,
We've both been contacted recently by a girl he had a one night stand with many many years ago and it turns out he has another child ,
We live a good eight hours away so contact is not going to be easy , aswell as many emotions this has brought up for us both . This may sound selfish however I am very concerned about our finances , this may be cynical of me but I believe this is going to boil down to money- having looked on the CSA website and working out what we would have to pay - it would really have a massive effect on us- the amount she would receive for her child is far greater than what free cash we have each month for our own children, there website doesn't take into account any debt / mortgage / food / bills we have to pay for ourselves - and this is feeling incredibly unfair to me,

I'm also worried about my husband he takes family very seriously and adores his children with me and he is by far the best father i could wish for- the most we can offer in terms of contact is a few hours in a contact centre possibly three or four times a year - I would love to welcome
This child into our family and our home I am more than happy to have this child every other school holiday / Christmas etc - but I cannot imagine that day will be for many years as my husband and the mother do not even know each other in reality , aecondly this child has a family unit a mum a sister and her mums boyfriend who she calls dad , so is a few hours a few times a year slowly building up contact worth disrupting everything ?

OP posts:
SemiNormal · 01/02/2017 23:05

This "poor child" has lost out on the dad being in her life because of her MOTHER, not the OP, not the father, but her. She made that decision so you are completely out of order to be so fucking bitchy to the OP that she is upset that this has come out of the blue like this. - It doesn't matter whose fault it is that the father hasn't been around the fact remains that this child has not had her dad around for 8 years through no fault of their own yet the OP thinks people are supposed to give a shit about her kids losing a climbing frame? seriously?? Yes, I'm sure OP is upset, I'm also pretty sure the 8 year old is upset too!

notMarlene · 01/02/2017 23:05

It must be weird being a bloke. Having to be told you've been involved in a conception, I mean. You'd never really be able to be 100% that you don't have any children out there who you'll never know about. Contraception failures happen even to the most carful couples.

I'm glad I can always be sure to know if my contraception fails.

FuzzyOwl · 01/02/2017 23:06

It's shocking to read on here that people are assuming the dh knew and kept it a secret. That he has "got away" with something he didn't even know about.

I would advise against working for the CSA then because after having done so for a few years, I'm more shocked that some men are completely honest about these situations to their current partners!

Tomorrowillbeachicken · 01/02/2017 23:08

This was a one night stand too. Gotta be a bit of a mind fuck to think that one sexual encounter will change so much.

PyongyangKipperbang · 01/02/2017 23:08

Needs I am basing that on the OP. She says that he didnt know and with no evidence to the contrary, I will base my responses on that.
Of course I am aware that a couple of posts musing that he may have known has now turned that in fact, with everyone assuming that he is a lying bastard, but personally I will go on what the OP knows until she says different.

Cheekychica10 · 01/02/2017 23:09

I have never once said about not taking responsibility

I have stated we are happy to support this child financially

We want contact and this child to be a part of our family

Considering this was yesterday I think the fact we both agree and want those things within seconds of learning the news says a lot about us as people we are not trying to escape responsibility. But the amount of money this would be would hugely effect our lives - we could provide half the amount and her child gains a second family - which would still be much better than what her situation has been for the past eight years and we don't lose our house or wind up in debt.

And it's not about climbing frames for fuck sake- this is our children's home they were born here , learnt to walk here, they have their own bedrooms their preschool and school places are here , their stability and family unit , we live up the road from family and their friends - but hey sod my kids because I had them within a relationship and responsibly so sod them turn their lives upside down 'because it's the right thing to do' it's the right thing to do by this child but not our children. We can step up we can make a massive difference to this child's life financially and physically but the amount given based solely on income
With no account for any outgoings is grossly unfair.

OP posts:
minipie · 01/02/2017 23:09

If you and DH unexpectedly had a third baby together, that would mean your existing DC had to make all the sacrifices you're talking about. If that as the situation I expect you'd say "it will be hard for them but they'll cope, and they'll be getting a new sibling to love". There would be no laws to say your existing Dc shouldn't be affected by having a sibling.

That's what happening here. Your Dh has a third child. Your DC have a sibling. So his existing DC have to share - his money and his time. Just as they would if you and Dh now had another baby.

FuzzyOwl · 01/02/2017 23:10

but they will be losing their big garden and climbing frames Try to think of it that your children benefitted from a few years of having this whereas if your DH had been paying for his older child all along, they probably would have missed out altogether.

PyongyangKipperbang · 01/02/2017 23:10

I'm also pretty sure the 8 year old is upset too!

Why? You dont know that the child even knows that the man she calls Dad isnt her father, that she has 2 siblings somewhere else. You dont actually know any of that.

Bluntness100 · 01/02/2017 23:10

I personally think it was irresponsible of both of them, but particularly the woman, to have unprotected sex.??

I agree, why is the woman more responsible please?

And yes, he has to contribute to a home and care and everything else for the child, just as he does for the ops kids and this is right. Her children have no more rights than this child, from bedrooms to climbing frames, legally all the kids are equal, and that's right in my view.

AyeAmarok · 01/02/2017 23:12

Gotta be a bit of a mind fuck to think that one sexual encounter will change so much.

Totally. It must be very so difficult for the guy to have to put his body through pregnancy and the agony of childbirth, and the lifelong career and financial hit of being a mother - all that change because of a silly ONS.

Oh no, wait. I'm muddled up.

anklebitersmum · 01/02/2017 23:13

The last thing you want is to be having to fight to get a decision appealed because she doesn't mention your two children when applying-or says that DH is proven to be the father already

That isn't her reponsibility, is it? The OP's husband has an obligation - in law - to disclose his circumstances.

It's not her legal responsibility to know his circumstances (I didn't say it was) but an error of this ilk can be avoided by The OP's DH being proactive not reactive.

Right now the last thing that the OP needs is more uncertainty.

ivykaty44 · 01/02/2017 23:13

Troll your obviously no fool you used birth control along side condoms for disease protection? You don't have a sexual disease

PyongyangKipperbang · 01/02/2017 23:13

mini I can see where you are coming from, but the unexpected pregnancy is something that the OP has some control over. She has just had this dropped on her and is expected to deal with it.

It would be a stronger person than me who could do that without even a little bit of "FFS, this isnt fair!!" when looking at the figures and wondering how the hell they will work out.

I wouldnt want to sell my house and uproot my children because of something that other people did yet that I was being expected to help pay for.

VestalVirgin · 01/02/2017 23:13

Yeah, this sucks for you, OP, but your husband is to blame just as much as this woman. He should have told you he had unprotected sex in his past and might have children he knows nothing of.

You married him and had children with him without knowing all the facts, and I understand that's a shock.

But it is not like he's blameless in this.

LostMyDotBrain · 01/02/2017 23:13

To the poster who mentioned that the woman should have contacted him 8 years ago...how? One or both of them may not have been on Facebook at that point, and that seems to be how she's found him now. Add to that he may have a common name, may have had his privacy settings high and possibly a non identifying profile pic. I'm no angel, I've had one night stands. But without Facebook I'd be knackered finding them with just their name. Especially if it only became apparent several months later that I had reason to.

Cheekychica10 · 01/02/2017 23:16

I've been through this girls Facebook also and this child has been very well loved and very well looked after- this child has a father and a person in their life they call dad , they have a sister too , this child hasn't actually been deprived of much at all apart from knowing their biological father which they now have the chance to. And in all honesty I hope that's what it is about and that's what this really should be about .

OP posts:
Goldmandra · 01/02/2017 23:16

Gotta be a bit of a mind fuck to think that one sexual encounter will change so much.

It shouldn't be. It should be drummed into every teenager's head so that, every time they think about casual sex, they automatically think about the possible consequences of it, including becoming parents.

Sex makes babies. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

SparkleSoiree · 01/02/2017 23:16

I think it's natural to be shocked but your attitude is appalling.

Many, many years ago I fell pregnant to a man I had been seeing for a couple of months. I told him and he cried like a baby. I couldn't figure out why, he said he needed time to think. I left him to get himself together and the next day I returned and his flatmate told me he had moved back to the place he came from and to his girlfriend. Shock I had no clue and was gutted and felt foolish amongst many other emotions.

When baby arrived I could not put his name on the birth certificate because we were not married. I had left my contact details with his flatmate to pass on, which he said he did but I never heard from the father and I relocated for support from my family.

When my son was 4 he asked me about his dad so I told him. He said he wanted to meet him, we talked it through and I told him I would try and find him. It took weeks of phoning complete strangers with the same name in the town he originated from but I came across his mother, left a message for him to call me. A week later I rang back to see if she found him and she said she passed on the message but he didn't want to know so I was to "go away and stop causing trouble." I had to tell my little boy that I couldn't find him because I didn't want him to feel rejected again.

When he was 9 he asked me to look again. I rang up the father's mother again and this time she wanted to talk and asked me what it was about. I told her and she spoke to me for a long time. She said she would pass on my new contact information but she couldn't get involved with my son if her son forbid it. (I hadn't asked her to.) A few days later I started getting nasty, horrible phone calls from unidentified people telling me I was a whore, a slag, a scrounger, every derogatory name you could imagine. I was standing in the kitchen on one of these calls looking at my lad sitting at the table, trying to keep calm. I had this verbal abuse being drummed into my ear whilst looking at my son and thinking how he didn't deserve such nasty people in his life. They then said my son was a bastard and would never be welcome in their family, that I had to crawl back under the stone I came out of, that I was wrecking lives because people were upset my son existed. I recall hanging up and going into the bathroom for a good bloody cry. I realised then he would never have the relationship with his dad that he wanted. He was such a lovely boy when he was younger, a really good kid and very loving and I didn't want to break his heart. I had to explain to my son that it was not possible for him to meet his dad and then when he was older we had a rather more open chat about the last phone call when he asked yet again if I would help him find his dad.

I only ever wanted to facilitate my son having a relationship with his dad. I didn't want his money, my son's needs were fully met by me. The problem is now that he is a grown man and is deeply traumatised that his dad didn't want to know him, has an issue with a lack of identity and is too scared of further rejection from his father. The fact his dad never cared enough about him to put food in his mouth or clothes on his back yet ALWAYS knew about his existence really hurts my son. I discovered though the father hadn't told any of his family or his girlfriend about getting a girl pregnant until I went searching for him a few years later.

Your situation needs an adjustment in attitude OP towards the child and the mother. You really know nothing about her, only what you have managed to put together from social networking. She is not the one changing your life, your husband clearly sowed the seeds a few years ago and he is the one you should be holding responsible.

So sick of seeing this whole demonising of single mothers because she's been left holding the baby and the father has managed to wiggle out of it and keep it secret for years. THEN when she finally catches up with him he continues to abuse her by denying her, the child, any knowledge of their existence. Really shitty. It causes pain and hurt for the child which follows them into their adulthood.

AyeAmarok · 01/02/2017 23:17

this is our children's home they were born here , learnt to walk here, they have their own bedrooms their preschool and school places are here , their stability and family unit , we live up the road from family and their friends

Maybe without your DH contributing the legal minimum amount, his first child will lose her home, because her mother can no longer afford to pay for everything herself. Have you thought about that? Is that more fair?

FuzzyOwl · 01/02/2017 23:18

OP, you keep referring to this woman as a girl. Considering she has an eight year old daughter, how old is she?

needsahalo · 01/02/2017 23:19

but the amount given based solely on income. With no account for any outgoings is grossly unfair

So...turn that around. The child's mother can therefore have whatever outgoing she likes in relation to the child and your husband can be forced to pay for the child's expenses regardless? Or better it is capped at $x so everyone knows where they stand?

choli · 01/02/2017 23:20

What exactly did the mum say to you on FB? Did she say that your DH did not know? I am trying to imagine how someone would word that piece of news.

anklebitersmum · 01/02/2017 23:20

minipie

With respect it's different to having a surprise third child in as much as you can cut your own financial cloth.

With CMS your cloth is cut for you. As the OP had no idea that scissors loomed on the horizon that is understandably a scary proposition.

SemiNormal · 01/02/2017 23:21

this child hasn't actually been deprived of much at all apart from knowing their biological father which they now have the chance to. - Yeah you're right, not been deprived of much at all. Hmm
And in all honesty I hope that's what it is about and that's what this really should be about - Yes, and it should also be about finances, because your DH should pay his way towards this child.