csa help please

[ladythatlunches]

Tue 09-Apr-13 20:06:18

Hi I was wondering if anyone could help.My dh has a child from a previous relationship in which he sees every school holiday as they live 7 hours away.We have 5 children all under age of 7.My dh works very hard and is a fantastic father to our dc and his ds.We have been together for13 years and dss is 14.His ex is being very difficult at the moment and even though they have a payment agreement which is always had and ex is happy with . Well was happy with, she is talking about contacting CSA for more money even though dh gives alot plus pays for clothes and obviously when he is here gets money to go out etc.On paper dh earns well but with 5 children and our unfortunate loans and rent its practically gone. We struggle or the time. We don't have luxuries at all no holidays days out etc. We are finding life very difficult at the moment so bad dh is working everyday god sends just so we can afford shopping . I haven't spoken to dh about it yet as he is still at work but am very close to tears woundering how we will feed and cloth our children if the CSA are involved.Im bit sure what im asking really but just advice or someone to talk to please.

You may well find the csa award her less than you pay at the moment. The csa is being disbanded and the new agency is expected to be slow to deal with new claims, I am told claims will be calculated on gross pay rather than the current net pay.

I am sure someone will point you in the direction of a link to a calculator which will work out what you must pay. The fact that you have 5 children to care for will be taken in to account.

Thank you always. It works out about £100 extra a month which is so much to us right now

5 children under 7 ! bless you.

Two thoughts, first your SC's nights with you will reduce the total you pay and you may well get a deduction for the travel costs. Of probably know that.

If your budget won't stretch to the additional £100 per month you will have to consider reducing the voluntary purchases of clothing and spending money etc etc. try not to worry.

I know the new agency are going to deal with cases in order of priority I am not sure where new applications come in the priority. (I seem to recall mothers with 3 or more children with the same father will have their case dealt with first or did I dream that?) Parents are going to be encouraged to make agreements between themselves and the resident parent and non resident parent will both have to pay a percentage of the claim to the government agency so it really is in both parties best interest to come to an agreement.

Oh really? That is the first I have heard. Thank you very much for that information.

Are last set are twins :) so we are not too crazy as it seems promise

there are no concrete plans to dismantle the CSA, just the usual rumours without foundation. There is a new scheme being introduced as we speak but will only affect NRPs where they are paying for 4 or more qualifying children which is not the case here for the time being. Once it goes live across all cases, there will be an additional admin charge to be paid by both PWC and NRP. As such, there is a huge move to try to encourage people to move to family based arrangements.

OP - if the ex wants the CSA involved, you have no choice in it. Have you checked what your partner's liability will be? He will receive a reduction for the children that live with you and possibly also a very small reduction for travel costs as he must be paying a fortune to maintain contact. He will have no obligation to pay any extra on top of the CSA amount if he doesn't want to. There is a calculator somewhere on the directgov website.

Thank you mum. I think dsd would benefit more the way we have it. But she is jusy being so akward and knows we are so stretched.
Dh wouldn't want to stop paying towards his stuff neither would I as he is his father and is a very good one he is trying to make sure he doesn't miss out and gets what all our kids have.

Hopefully she will see this

If he has to pay his DS's mum more via the CSA, then he can reduce the spending he does on clothes. At 14 his DS is old enough to understand if he tells him "I pay money to mum, so she's supposed to buy you those things". My DP says that to his DC sometimes and they understand - and DSD now brings some cash with her if she wants met to take her out shopping.

Presumably if his mum has more money she'll be more able to afford clothes, etc for him. Doesn't make your DH a bad dad that the money he's providing is going via his DS's mum.