Solicitor/advice needed regarding Child Maintenance claim
Discussion
Asking on behalf of my partner.
Briefly outline the situation the best i can. Partners ex husband is trying to claim back Child Maintenance.
Background to this - she left him 10 years ago because he was physically abusive and cheating. She went through a horrendous few years trying to care for her young children living in various run down hostels. The ex did not help raising the children in any way but convinced 2 of my partners children, teenagers at the time, to move in with him so he wouldn't have to pay child maintenance until they reached 18.
Basically he hasn't helped financially or physically until he got 2 of them moved in with him and now wants child maintenance for the couple of years he had them.
He has been disgraced in court previously by the judge for his behaviour towards her in court and will not let up. Police informed my ex he has a bad past and has been in prison all of which she was unaware of.
Sorry if I've overstated her case , I'm trying to give info so we get the right type of lawyer/soliicitor. She is no longer in contact with her previous solicitors who each time have won her case for her but still has access to paperwork / notes etc.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Briefly outline the situation the best i can. Partners ex husband is trying to claim back Child Maintenance.
Background to this - she left him 10 years ago because he was physically abusive and cheating. She went through a horrendous few years trying to care for her young children living in various run down hostels. The ex did not help raising the children in any way but convinced 2 of my partners children, teenagers at the time, to move in with him so he wouldn't have to pay child maintenance until they reached 18.
Basically he hasn't helped financially or physically until he got 2 of them moved in with him and now wants child maintenance for the couple of years he had them.
He has been disgraced in court previously by the judge for his behaviour towards her in court and will not let up. Police informed my ex he has a bad past and has been in prison all of which she was unaware of.
Sorry if I've overstated her case , I'm trying to give info so we get the right type of lawyer/soliicitor. She is no longer in contact with her previous solicitors who each time have won her case for her but still has access to paperwork / notes etc.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
When you say 'claim back' - did he have a CSA/CMS case open for that time period? Were there ever any court orders?
AFAIK you can't just retrospectively claim maintenance for a past period. If you open a CSA/CMS case, they calculate a sum 'owed' and the parent doesn't pay it, then they have the ability to go after that parent. LIkewise a breach court order can be enforced in theory. However unless there was any formal maintenance award which your partner ignored, I don't believe he has a leg to stand on.
Are the kids still of an eligible age now? It can run to 20 I believe, if they are still in secondary level education.
AFAIK you can't just retrospectively claim maintenance for a past period. If you open a CSA/CMS case, they calculate a sum 'owed' and the parent doesn't pay it, then they have the ability to go after that parent. LIkewise a breach court order can be enforced in theory. However unless there was any formal maintenance award which your partner ignored, I don't believe he has a leg to stand on.
Are the kids still of an eligible age now? It can run to 20 I believe, if they are still in secondary level education.
Ok, we've spoken and to be honest I'm totally confused.
Apparently when he had the two boys for a couple of years he got them on the promise that he would give them the child maintenance instead of their Mum. When they moved in with him partner obviously received no maintenance for this period .
He is disputing his earnings during this time, now saying it is lower than was claimed at the time.
My partners income fluctuates as she is self employed.
Apparently when he had the two boys for a couple of years he got them on the promise that he would give them the child maintenance instead of their Mum. When they moved in with him partner obviously received no maintenance for this period .
He is disputing his earnings during this time, now saying it is lower than was claimed at the time.
My partners income fluctuates as she is self employed.
But how is he claiming this?
Unless she's getting swamped with brown envelopes from the CMS or threatened with enforcement of a court order she has ignored, it doesn't seem likely to me that there is any legally recognised or enforceable debt.
He can tell her all he likes that she owes him, and she can just ignore him.
Unless she's getting swamped with brown envelopes from the CMS or threatened with enforcement of a court order she has ignored, it doesn't seem likely to me that there is any legally recognised or enforceable debt.
He can tell her all he likes that she owes him, and she can just ignore him.
Spanglepants said:
No, my partner informed the relevant agencies that the boys were not with her for this period.
The best I can work out is that he is saying his earnings were lower than claimed and my partner's were higher than claimed.
Easily proved via P60’s. The best I can work out is that he is saying his earnings were lower than claimed and my partner's were higher than claimed.
Your post is very confusing & it makes it very difficult to offer any advice.
Spanglepants said:
He is disputing his earnings during this time, now saying it is lower than was claimed at the time.
He needs to provide self assessment/p60 to prove what he earnedSpanglepants said:
My partners income fluctuates as she is self employed.
She needs to find her self assessment/p60 to prove what she earned.theboss said:
When you say 'claim back' - did he have a CSA/CMS case open for that time period? Were there ever any court orders?
AFAIK you can't just retrospectively claim maintenance for a past period. If you open a CSA/CMS case, they calculate a sum 'owed' and the parent doesn't pay it, then they have the ability to go after that parent. LIkewise a breach court order can be enforced in theory. However unless there was any formal maintenance award which your partner ignored, I don't believe he has a leg to stand on.
Are the kids still of an eligible age now? It can run to 20 I believe, if they are still in secondary level education.
As said above, was there a case opened with child maintenance? If not, unlikely it can be claimed.AFAIK you can't just retrospectively claim maintenance for a past period. If you open a CSA/CMS case, they calculate a sum 'owed' and the parent doesn't pay it, then they have the ability to go after that parent. LIkewise a breach court order can be enforced in theory. However unless there was any formal maintenance award which your partner ignored, I don't believe he has a leg to stand on.
Are the kids still of an eligible age now? It can run to 20 I believe, if they are still in secondary level education.
In any case, she doesn't have to prove anything.
If there's a CMS case they'll have access to HMRC's systems. They never disclose income details to the other parent - only the resultant maintenance sum they have calculated.
If there's a court case she'll known at what point she's obliged to disclose finances to the court.
Otherwise its none of his business. He can speculate all he likes about what he thinks she owes, but it won't go anywhere.
If there's a CMS case they'll have access to HMRC's systems. They never disclose income details to the other parent - only the resultant maintenance sum they have calculated.
If there's a court case she'll known at what point she's obliged to disclose finances to the court.
Otherwise its none of his business. He can speculate all he likes about what he thinks she owes, but it won't go anywhere.
theboss said:
In any case, she doesn't have to prove anything.
If there's a CMS case they'll have access to HMRC's systems. They never disclose income details to the other parent - only the resultant maintenance sum they have calculated.
If there's a court case she'll known at what point she's obliged to disclose finances to the court.
Otherwise its none of his business. He can speculate all he likes about what he thinks she owes, but it won't go anywhere.
CMS DO disclose the income of the paying parent as taken from their P60. If there's a CMS case they'll have access to HMRC's systems. They never disclose income details to the other parent - only the resultant maintenance sum they have calculated.
If there's a court case she'll known at what point she's obliged to disclose finances to the court.
Otherwise its none of his business. He can speculate all he likes about what he thinks she owes, but it won't go anywhere.
LordHaveMurci said:
theboss said:
In any case, she doesn't have to prove anything.
If there's a CMS case they'll have access to HMRC's systems. They never disclose income details to the other parent - only the resultant maintenance sum they have calculated.
If there's a court case she'll known at what point she's obliged to disclose finances to the court.
Otherwise its none of his business. He can speculate all he likes about what he thinks she owes, but it won't go anywhere.
CMS DO disclose the income of the paying parent as taken from their P60. If there's a CMS case they'll have access to HMRC's systems. They never disclose income details to the other parent - only the resultant maintenance sum they have calculated.
If there's a court case she'll known at what point she's obliged to disclose finances to the court.
Otherwise its none of his business. He can speculate all he likes about what he thinks she owes, but it won't go anywhere.
You're still under no obligation to furnish the ex with that info though.
theboss said:
I stand corrected. That's interesting and seems quite unnecessary. I guess when I had a case as a receiving parent the earned income of the parent was the square root of SFA so there was no P60 income to refer to.
Cuts down on a lot of disputes I guess. Was interesting for me discovering my lying b**** of an Ex was earning 50% more than she’d led me to believe!
LordHaveMurci said:
Cuts down on a lot of disputes I guess.
Was interesting for me discovering my lying b**** of an Ex was earning 50% more than she’d led me to believe!
They were a horrendous organisation to deal with.Was interesting for me discovering my lying b**** of an Ex was earning 50% more than she’d led me to believe!
That's the one silver lining of being caught by a court awarded global maintenance sum - not having to deal with these people, not having annual reviews and not having to worry that if my income varies (upward) the sum is recalculated.
One thing which really annoyed me as a paying parent (yes, I had two cases, one as a paying and one as a receiving, simultaneously, with the same ex) was that I pointed out to them in the very first phone call I had, that I drew a basic salary which was supplemented by dividends. I gave them the figures. Did they act on them, no, they calculated the sum on the basic salary and wrote to the ex saying I owed her £12 a week or something silly like that.
Cue big drama and her telling everyone I'm trying to skimp on maintaining the kids.
Only after she applies for a variation herself, will they take into account the unearned income I told them about from day 1. They then proceeded to issue paperwork 5 different times each with varying amounts. I even received two on the same day, dated the same date, with conflicting figures.
At that point the nightmare ex herself concluded it was too much hassle and came to a private agreement. And then started financial remedy proceedings a few weeks later going for spouse M.
An absolute disaster of an organisation.
Edited by theboss on Tuesday 16th February 16:02
Spanglepants said:
The best I can work out ..
What hope does the power of PH have then? 
Just throwing something out there re self-employed.. which is a minefield in itself. Let's *assume* she was 'self-employed' but really was a limited co director, paying herself a salary and dividends. Taking the dividend payment(s) into account has to be requested, as a variation. So *maybe* it's that.
ETA like theboss has just said.
theboss said:
They were a horrendous organisation to deal with.
An absolute disaster of an organisation.
Of the three, Child Benefit, Tax Credits & CMS, the latter have been the best to deal with but it’s a very low bar & yes, agree completely. An absolute disaster of an organisation.
Not helped by a bitter Ex using them as a weapon & they know this but have no procedures to stop it apparently.
Op, IME you cannot retrospectively claim maintenance, only chase any arrears that may be due.
Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff