Adult child and maintenance

[CandyLeBonBon]

Can anyone offer any insight? (Excuse the duplicate post but I've had no traffic in legal matters)

My exH has been paying £1200 a month since we separated in 2009 and has stayed the same in spite of his increased salary around £90/100k)

We have a consent order signed in 2019 in which he agreed to support our 3 children until age 21 or they start working full time or go to uni, whichever is sooner.

My eldest is 19 and autistic and deemed to have a limited capability for work by DWP and on UC (no earned income). My other children are 16 and 13.

He recently accused me of controlling him snd manipulating the children to get information about him (I don't and haven't) and now refuses to communicate in any form. He refuses to collect the kids from the house when he sees them. They have chosen to avoid seeing him because they find him dismissive, emotionally absent and they find him difficult to communicate with, so haven't spent much time with him recently. I have always encouraged a relationship.

Yesterday I found thst he has reduced maintenance payments by £400 without any discussion.

I think a consent order is only enforceable for maintenance for 12 months, but as my eldest son is likely to be at home for a good while longer and has limited earning capacity at the moment, is this worth taking to court over?

I'm not sure if there is anything I can do? He's sprung it on me with no notice and I rely on that at the moment. I do work full time and the kids are with me 99% of the time. I do all medical/therapy/financial appointments with my eldest son and act as advocate for him with admin/financial matters etc, so a fair bit of extra work on top of my job.

I have politely asked to talk about his decision via text/email but he is stonewalling me.

Does anyone have any understanding of where I stand legally? Is it worth pursuing or do I just need to suck it up and get a second job?

If anyone has any advice or insight I'd be really grateful.

Hello - I wonder if you should post in relationships for more traffic?

Good call @LitCrit thanks

We have a consent order signed in 2019 in which he agreed to support our 3 children until age 21 or they start working full time or go to uni, whichever is sooner

They'll need support when/if they go to uni

(Sorry no idea on the legal side, but this will bump)

Hello there
I’m a family law solicitor and would really recommend that you have a solicitor review the order. The 12 month rule only relates to maintenance under the period of jurisdiction of the Child Maintenance Service. If your son is 19 and has left full time education the CMS no longer have jurisdiction and depending on the wording of the order, the aspect of child maintenance that extended beyond the end of CMS jurisdiction may be enforceable or varied by the court. However completely depends on the wording and this is relatively technical so do get real life legal advice

He cannot unilaterally reduce maintenance, although in my experience some will.
No experience of consent orders but I had a court order for child maintenance until my children were 18. One of them stayed in education beyond 18 as thet resat their A levels,
As my court order ended for one I then turned to CMS to gain payment. My ex was a high earner and despite asking them to take his dividend payments in to account I think I only received just over £200 monthly.
My suggestion would be to write to him advising him thay he cannot unilaterally reduce payments, he needs to pay you the set amount as per consent order. Give him 14 days notice and if things are not corrected in this time you will seek an enforcement order. You can apply for this yourself, make sure you keep a copy of the letter.

@BonesInTheOcean

We have a consent order signed in 2019 in which he agreed to support our 3 children until age 21 or they start working full time or go to uni, whichever is sooner

They'll need support when/if they go to uni

(Sorry no idea on the legal side, but this will bump)

Yes they will but those were the only terms he would agree. He seems to consider paying for his children is optional.

@Familylawso1icitor

Hello there I’m a family law solicitor and would really recommend that you have a solicitor review the order. The 12 month rule only relates to maintenance under the period of jurisdiction of the Child Maintenance Service. If your son is 19 and has left full time education the CMS no longer have jurisdiction and depending on the wording of the order, the aspect of child maintenance that extended beyond the end of CMS jurisdiction may be enforceable or varied by the court. However completely depends on the wording and this is relatively technical so do get real life legal advice

Thanks. I am trying to get hold of a copy of the order as I think I list it in my house move so I'll get it reviewed