CSA are rubbish! Sorry if wrong forum.

[KareninsGirl]

Aaarrrrggghhhhh!!!

Seven years it's taken them to review my ex's wages. SEVEN YEARS! And they still haven't done it, despite fortnightly contact.

I want to scream, cry, shout...I'm at my wit's end. Will they backdate?!

So you only want him to feel the benefit of your improved circumstances when he is with you and not at any other time?

She walked out of 4 jobs prior to becoming pregnant and as to the appointments etc I did more than my fair share and still do. Actually we have joint custody but over 3 years she has reduced my access because she can, until i could take no more and took her to court prior to this i could not afford to and had to put up and shut up as many women are fully aware. When i finally stand up to her and can afford to the CSA come calling thankfully being fully aware of her nature i planned for this and set up my LTD 3 months prior to serving court papers in preparation of this day and am glad but feel guilty about having to do this.

Well it's all a matter of perspective ultimately, isn't it. Perhaps your definition of fair and hers differ wildly.

I still don't understand why you only want your DS to benefit while he's in your care though. There is no love lost between me and my children's father. I have more money than he does. The children reside with me full time and he has little involvement (his choice). Should I die before they reach adulthood and they lived with him, I have made arrangements that he will benefit from my estate so that my children do also. Holding the money in 'trust' for them until they reach adulthood because I don't want him to benefit (and believe me I empathise with you when it comes to feeling that an X doesn't deserve to benefit), will actively harm their day to day life. As their mother, I can't allow that to happen when it is within my power to ensure that it does not.

£7 a week. Very generous of you. You must give me some tips on how to raise a child on £7 a week as that wouldn't cover food for one day in this house.

You say you don't want to be indirectly supporting your ex and new partner's new child. Who do think is going to end up supporting YOUR child? The mind boggles at your arrogance.

I feel very sorry for your son.

Ah I have just posted a thread about the CSA. In my case I do think they have tried hard to get money for dd3 from her dead beat dad but if the non resident parent is totally non-compliant then it makes it difficult. Dd3's dad tried denying paternity and then refused a DNA test

After a year of this I have just got a maintenance calculation through the post and he is earning loads! The least he could do is to make a contribution for his daughter, he lives alone and has only himself to care about.

I can see it from both sides. As blended families become more common, i can potentially see it being more of an issue. I know someone who has two children by two different men (not uncommon). One father pays (just over £300 pcm) and the other doesn't. The income goes into the household budget and is distributed by the mother in accordance with the need of each of her children. Essentially, one Dad is subsidising another. The Dad (who does pay) has said that he'd feel more comfortable buying his child the things it needs and providing for his future by was of a savings account. Needless to say, the mother didn't agree.

Also, I was astounded to discover that maintenance doesn't impact state benefits. That can't be right can it?

I have stated that i am more than happy to contribute and feel that the calculation should be based on my income at the time we were together and is index linked and is payable regardless of situation. I have paid this for 3 years and have had no complaints about the amount £450 for 1 child. I disagree with an imposed payment that is easy to set and impossible to revise if i was to have reduced income and was happy to pay this amount forever but will not deal with an agency appointed to chase parents who do not want to pay who was instructed because i took her to court for access. I was genuinely in two minds about declaring my full income and paying what the CSA state but the vitriol and disparaging comments i have received have really disappointed me. I was hoping someone might see both sides of the argument but it appears not

Contrarian, given how easy it seems to be for feckless parents to suddenly withdraw maintenance or to provide clothes etc in lieu of money, then its reasonable that those payments are not taken into account for the purpose of calculating benefits as ti can be very difficult to work out how much help the resident actually gets from the NRP.

If a NRP suddenly stops paying for whatever reason it can take months for the RP to start receiving the help to which they would be entitled on their reduced income.

If the NRP is forced to start paying again or changes their declared income it would have repercussions on the other parents' ability to manage when benefits are withdrawn again.

Far better that there is a steady family income based on the resident parent's earning and that maintenance, if it is at all forthcoming, is a bonus for those children lucky enough to have NRPs who care.

I know of a colleagues sister who divorced her barrister husband and receives £5,000 per month maintenance obviusly tax free and claims Child tax credit because she doesn't work

LyndaCBP - I absolutely agree, but if there is no other earned income in the house, then anything that a non-residnent parent pays should go to the exchequer. Otherwise the amount of income in a single parent non-working household will depend on how "lucky" the primary carer was when choosing a partner. Again, that doesn't feel right.

But why do you feel that your responsibility to support your child ended at the income bracket you had achieved when you split up?

The fact that your that your business has thrived now that you are no longer trying to support a family full time shows that you have benefitted from the situation. Why should your child not benefit financially from your improved circumstances?

And Contrarian, in your example one dad is not subsidising another, he is contributing an amount which is has been deemed is sufficient to help support his own child and the mother is having to subsidise the non-contributing parent by other means, whether her own income from work, benefits or cutting back what everyone in the family receives.

As the point from canpaywontpay illustrates.

LyndaCBP - If the money comes from the same pot.........

How many single parents receive £5000 pcm?

60% of single parents don't receive any maintenance.

48% of those on the books of the CSA are assessed at having to pay £5pw (on benefits) or £0 (self-employed or "no income").

If anybody is subsidising another man's child here (also known as your child's sibling), it is the state - thanks to feckless parents not meeting their financial responsibilities.

Marry up benefits, tax and the CSA and a lot of this would be solved.

Single parents are twice as likely to live in poverty as anyone else.

totally agree with Contrarian If i rolled over and accepted my fate the CSA would increase my payments to approx £850 per month coincidentally about what my ex wife earns now, although at present she is on maternity leave for her new child. I know for a fact she will not return to work if I was to pay this and i will be paying for her to stay at home an look after her new baby. I, as i have previously stated, am still paying for debts incurred when my wife stopped working for our son andi was happy to do this for my own child I will not subsidise someone elses child as well. My son is in full time education now so if his mother chooses to have a child with someone else they can pay for their child if she doesn't want to work anymore not me. However iwould continue to pay the existing agreed post divorce amount i will not be told by the CSA.

I could not agree more. I honestly think that the state should adjust the tax codes of non-resident parents where primary carers are in receipt of state benefit, or elect to take state asssitance in lieu of a private arrangement. This would provide a degree of certainty for the primary carer and ensure that the feckless (to a degree) met their responsibilities.

Funny how concrete statistics on payment of child maintenance which clearly point again and again to resident parents struggling are continually outweighed by stories from 'a friend or relative' about 'poor men' being 'fleeced' - for which, there is no statistical evidence whatsoever.

Surely all the statistics do I prove that the system does not work and that the investigation and enforcement is not robust enough. As i prevoiusly state i would have happily paid my maintenance based on time of divorce income and index linked it forever. I would happily be debted for non payment with it being recorded on my credit file by the govt thus impacting on my wider situation. An i would happily have no limitation on the chasing for payment ensuring that the ExP is compensated whenever in life the CSA catch up with them or have the money to pay. I will not however be made to pay more when i earn more and be expected to furnish a Govt agency with my details every time i change jobs for the rest of my life.

That''s one of the problems with this sort of system, the outcomes are unique for everyone.

I'm not here to defend parents (typically fathers) that don't pay. I just think that we've got ourselves into an unholy mess by having the state take over too many of the resposibilities - to the extent now that NRPs know that their children's basic needs are being met whether they contribute or not. If we're going to have the state provide, then any money recovered from the NRP should, in those instances, be returned to the state. Increase state benefits a little if you must (but beware perverse incentives).

The argument about blended families doesn't really stand up IMO. People who decide to start a family with someone who already has children know that they will have to cut their cloth accordingly.

I reported ex partner 7 yrs ago as I has to report my ex husband. Ex husband seems to have com

It's when those blended families separate that it becomes an issue. Otherwise, you're quite right.

Cantpaywontpay - do you think you deserve a pat on the back to refuse to pay maintenance for the child that YOU helped to create?

Your wife's wages, past behaviour or anything else are totally irrelevant here. You only have to pay 15% of what you earn for one child. Your whinging is not going to get you much sympathy. Children cost money to raise. Yet it sounds like it is you who is doing the point scoring here, not your ex.

Completely got away with it but ex partner has to pay all arrears from 7 yrs ago to now very erratic getting it but he has to pay it's just a matter of keep ringing up :(