CSA advice

[Newlife12]

I am looking for some advice on behalf of my son. When he was very young (19) he was in relationship and they had 2 children together , the relationship did not work out and they are both now with new partners. My son has always had a great relationship with the kids often having them 50% of the time, his now wife of 5 years treats them like her own.
The mother of the kids in on benefits, lovely new house and works on the sly, she also manages to have couple of holidays abroad ( without the kids), her current partner works, quite frankly they have a nice life.
The issue is she is getting 780 a month in CSA payments and it seems to keep going up, my son does not want to get her into trouble but this some how needs to be addressed. My son and current wife would like to have a baby before it is too late (she is 34) and hopefully buy a house but this level of CSA payment is a problem, it seems especially unfair as the kids spend a lot of time with them. Can anyone offer any advice please.

Either it’s going through CMS and he earns a huge amount to be paying that much maintenance when it’s 50/50, or it’s informal and he’s agreeing to these increases? I think this is relavent to the advice you get. Also how old is he?

The mums financial situation isn’t relevant really

Firstly get your title changed to CMS (Child Maintenance Service) CSA is the old name and some people may not open your thread because CSA means Child Sexual Abuse.

If he's genuinely doing 50/50 he should raise a ticket on his account advising this and asking for a reassessment based on the overnights he has. If he has any evidence she is working, he should provide that. He can't be the nice guy that doesn't want to get her into trouble and moan that he is paying too much. He needs to pick a side.

Why would whether or not she’s working change the amount of CMS he pays? It’s not means tested

It was more to do with the working cash in hand and claiming benefits. All of the agencies share information. HMRC, benefits, CMS.

CMS is based solely on his income and on time with them. Court arranged maintenance orders are slightly different.

Is he an extremely high earner? Is his amount calculated by CMS or court?

If it’s CMS, and he’s not a high earner, then he needs to show them proof that they have a genuine 50/50 arrangement and he shouldn’t be paying.

If it’s a court ordered arrangement he needs to go back to court with any changes that need made.

Get some proper advice, ring the CSA and speak to citizens advice see what they are all saying, a real man won’t stop supporting his children after a breakup but it needs to be fair, he needs to know that the money he’s paying is going towards the children and not into her holiday fund, especially if shes not taking the kids with her.

Good on him for wanting to pay for their upkeep, many don’t! It does sound like a lot though, so worth checking. I know people who pay the basic amount and if the children need anything like clothes/trainers etc he buys them. It doesn’t stop the other parent from selling them but as children find it hard to lie he would always find out.

It’s not a fair society we live in and those on benefits tend to get more than middle class working people, i’m not saying that some don’t deserve it because there are genuine people that can’t work, and they deserve to be looked after but some people are having it away with cheap rent, several holidays a year because they know how to play our broken system.

You can work while on benefits though, it’d be hard to prove she’s working cash in hand and if it’s just a little it wouldn’t reduce her benefits for the first few hundred pounds anyway. He’s better off focusing on his own finances first really

Yes he either owes it and it’s calculated fairly or he’s agreeing to this amount

which is it ?

If he has more children with another woman then the amount will fairly be calculated as less

Thanks for the advice, as I know so very little on this subject. I would say he is not a massively high earner 55K + overtime, we do know she is working cash in hand. and has been for years, so not just a few hundred. The amount he is paying just seems over the top. I think he is scared to say anything as she would stop him seeing the kids. Unfortunately she has form for using them a a weapon. I will speak with him to see how this is calculated

None of her circumstances have any impact on CMS. Either he’s a high earner and they calculated that amount based on HIS income , or he privately agreed to it , in which case he can amend it. If it through CMS he will get a “discount “ if he has another child.

The key thing is how much your DS has his children.

You say he “often” has them 50% of the time - does he haven’t then 50% of the year or not? That’s the bit that dictates maintenance calculations.

£780 on £55k plus overtime, especially if that’s a lot of overtime, may not actually be over the top depending on how many nights he has the children over the course of the year.

And even if it seems unfair you need to accept that her income has absolutely nothing to do with his calculation. It’s solely based on his income. She could earn £1 or £1 billion and his calculation would be exactly the same.

If his overtime is £15k then that monthly figure sounds about right 😊

it will go down a bit when he has further children with this second woman

What she earns is irrelevant.

His financial responsibility to his children doesn't magically decrease because their mum is earning money.

A very quick look on the CMS calculator suggests that to be paying £780 a month for 2dc he's logged as caring for them 1 night a week with a salary of a little over £60k gross.

If he has them more than that he should let them know. 50/50 would make his contribution half of what he's paying now. Unless he's earning shit loads more than you think op....

He should get a child arrangement order if the mum is likely to withhold contact if he does reduce CMS.

Can he and his partner really afford another child?!?