Child Maintenance

[Crataegus3693]

Hello people! :-) I am not sure if I have posted this in the correct area...please forgive me if I have! :-)
I have sent this to CMS....

Hi. I am to pay £323 till Feb 2020 and then supposed to pay £310 a month then on. Both March/April £323 has been taken. I don't mind that reduces the debt faster.
However. I know I could be paying till she is 20, but is that only if she is in full time advanced education? As Rose became 18 on 23rd April this year, and no longer in education and able to work...(she ended college back in February) does this change in her circumstances change how much I pay? Because all I can read up about online as well as in your own published guide suggest I am no longer liable to pay.

And this is how the CMS responded...

Thank you for your enquiry
A person continues to be a child if They are:
?aged over 16 but under 20
?have finished a course of full-time non-advanced education, and
?are enrolled on another such course, that is not provided as a result of employment.
A person, who has left full-time non-advanced education or approved training, will continue to be a child until the day after the earliest of these dates which are known as ?terminal dates?:
?the last day of February
?31 May
?31 August
?30 November.
Please contact us again in September and we will investigate then whether your Daughter still qualifies for Child Maintenance.

I have no idea how to take what the CMS have said...does it sound correct? Because, to me, because my daughter is no longer in FT Education (since February when she was expelled), she turned 18 in April of this year too. And whilest she is unable to work full time currently due to Government restrictions, and has not been able to do so since leaving college, she is still earning money as a carer for her mother.

Does it sound right that I should not be contacting CMS till September, or should I not be paying at all by this time? If what they say...she is still a child till she is 20? I thought 18 was adult? I am confused...

Contact CMS and find out the correct info they are open still

Sounds like part of your child support is repaying arrears? In which case you should certainly keep paying until that debt is repaid. Even if your daughter doesn’t qualify for child support any more.

Surely you would continue to pay if shes not in employment anyway due to current situation,could she be restarting college in September? As pp said it sounds like you're in arrears so you need to continue that.

@Smallsteps88

Sounds like part of your child support is repaying arrears? In which case you should certainly keep paying until that debt is repaid. Even if your daughter doesn’t qualify for child support any more.

When it was CSA I used to pay around £220 out my wages with no issues. When CMS took over they said they would take around £120 out my wages and £120 out of my bank. My ignorance with personal finances and discalculia made me not realise the CMS hadn't actually been taking the £120 out of the bank for a few months. And then the CMS actually repaid me back around £120 in March 2019, which I put that down to something happening to Rose's mum (Terminally ill) and payments would be transferred to another family member. This wasn't the case, and I have no idea why they paid me back that March payment. So subsequently, it was put down as a debt on top of the regular payments, and instead of £205 each month, I pay £323 direct out my wages which covers the debt and regular payments. However, the payment plan states £323 for December 19 and January 20, and then £310 from February 20 onward, although so far they have continued to take £323. I am happy to continue to keep paying the £323 each month if it clears the debt faster. The next CMS annual review is November so I am assuming they have calculated payments till then which include debt and regular amounts, and I am hoping the debt will be repaid by then. I must say, that my bank will wonder what's happening when it no longer goes into overdraft within 3 days of getting paid when the CMS payments stop!lol

@AllsortsofAwkward

Surely you would continue to pay if shes not in employment anyway due to current situation,could she be restarting college in September? As pp said it sounds like you're in arrears so you need to continue that.

Due to current situation, yes, I am happy to pay! Rose probably won't restart college in September as she dislikes it immensely and struggles. She wanted to do level 2 horse care but she was declined, so they only offered her a level 2 course in animal care which included functional skills, but her attendance interfered with that and she was expelled in March, and so far has said she does not want to go back to college!!!