child maintenance & CSA

[backtothe80s]

had nothing from spouse whilst going through divorce process - 2 children and been managing on meagre income. is there any advantage in waiting til divorce agreed or can I apply now so that I am getting something and how long doe sit usually take and do the payments get backdated. Thank you

Phone today and whatever the CMS eventually assesses you should receive, will be backdated to today. It can take a few weeks. Their assessment is based on incomes in the last tax year, between 6 April last year and 5 April this year.
The Child Maintenance Service deals with new cases like yours, the CSA with older ones. You will have to go through Child Maintenance Options first cmoptions.org

No advice but placemarking with interest.

is this not something my solicitor should have told me

I'm sorry, I gave inaccurate information. The date the CMS backdate your claim to will be when they get around to dealing with your application, maybe 2-3 weeks?
The central message is the same: apply ASAP but consider delaying if you are in the last few months of the tax year (Jan, Feb, Mar) and your STBXH has had a hefty pay rise since April.