Child maintenance application without child benefit

[Helpmymr5]

Hi Is there anyway to make a child maintenance application without claiming child benefit?

My Partner is entitled to child maintenance according to the gov calculator. She has her children 4 nights and is the primary care giver.

She let her ex have the child benefit years ago when he was struggling for her youngest child with the provision that it would be transferred back to her when her oldest left full time education.

That time has arrived but he will not give it back. Child benefit has said it's fair that he should keep it has they have shared responsibility for their two children but her oldest child's benefit runs out in two weeks and they didn't take that into consideration.

His circumstances have changed considerably he's never payed maintenance towards his children, and my partner can not claim for it for her youngest child because the benefit is in his name. She has the majority of the day to day care for her son and he stays with us 4 nights a week.

Is there anything she can do?

Do you mean can they claim through the Child Maintenance Service.

Child maintenance have informed her that she needs the child benefit payment for her youngest son to be able to claim child maintenance for him. But her ex partner has the child benefit which is stopping her child maintenance application from going forwards.

She can put in a claim for child benefit. She will be declined because someone else is already claiming it. She can then dispute the refusal and provide evidence that the child mostly lives with her

She's already done this. They've deemed that it's fair that he keeps the child benefit for youngest son while she keeps the benefit for her daughter. But her daughter's will stop being payed in two weeks.

It's just seems crazy that she cannot claim maintenance for her son when she's entitled to it but can't because she's not claiming the child benefit for him.

Can she just wait 2 weeks until her daughters stops?

As far as I know child benefit has nothing to do with maintenance. If she has the child the majority of the time then she can claim maintenance regardless of who gets the CB.

The only reason I can see why Child Benefit might be relevant would be as a proxy for 'being responsible for the child'.

Nothing on the CMS website suggests its receipt is a pre-condition.

Incorrect. It has everything to do with child benefit! It cannot be paid unless the recipient receives child benefit for the child

@HauntedbyMagpies

Can you provide a reference for that from regulations etc?

Not saying you're wrong but I couldn't find anything when I looked and given the way people can arrange their affairs it seems counter intuitive.

As far as I'm aware because child benefit and child maintenance are not linked. Child benefit have deemed that he has enough shared responsibility to keep one of the benefits at the moment, but this has stopped her claiming child maintenance for her son which according to the gov calculator she's entitled to.

I think her ex is aware of this and that's why he will not give the child benefit back willingly. Him and his partner must earn plus 40k each so it's not a case of that he needs it, he just knows it will stop her child maintenance application. He's never payed maintenance for them.

She is now stuck in limbo with it with what seems like no other options?

I can say from experience this is what they've informed her over the phone. But I don't know where the written regulation is.

Child benefit is for the resident parent. It can only be claimed like this when care is 50/50 so no child maintenance would be payable.

If he won't pay cm then he needs to do the 4 nights and her 3.

Incorrect. It has everything to do with child benefit! It cannot be paid unless the recipient receives child benefit for the child

So anyone who earns too much to be able to claim CB can't get CMS?