CSA not helping Australian Agency to find British Father

January 24, 2010

My name is Robyn and I have a 5 year old daughter Kaylah, her father is David Jackson who lives in Tooting, London.

The Australian Child Support Agency is currently trying to locate David for outstanding child support for Kaylah. He currently owes $18 600 AUD and hasn’t paid any support for Kaylah who lives in Australia for 10 months.

This case was forwarded to the UK office in August 2009 for them to locate him and ask for answers. They have since said that they were unable to find him and they will no longer pursue him without current address details.

I have send emailed Mark Grimshaw only to be told that I am not a UK resident so they will not help me, although I was living there at the time she was conceived and I paid my NIN and taxes while residing there. Kaylah is a British citizen and I am to marry a British citizen next year. So that would make me a dual citizen.

David’s address was confirmed yet they still say I need to produce more details. Well isn’t their job to locate him once they have accepted the case and put him through the courts to support his only child??

David has perviously been investigated for tax evasion and fraud. He doesn’t pay National Insurance or taxes, isn’t that against the British law??? Plus David uses bank accounts in other peoples names so he can hide his true earnings. Fraud again!

I believe that David is collecting through the pensions office for his daughter Kaylah, something I have not authorized. This is illegal again.

I have run out of options and I am struggling to make ends meet. I trust that you will understand my situation and help me. A father has a legal responsibility for his children, no matter where he lives in the world.

Yours Sincerely,
Robyn

Comments

  • Brokenfather says:

    Im confuded.

    Was your daughter born in the UK, does she have a UK birth certificate, is the father named on this?

    Did you get the fathers agreement to move your child to Australia?

  • Robyn Laverty says:

    My daughter was conceived in the UK, we returned to Australia before discovering that I was pregnant. David returned to the UK a week before it was confirmed. I stayed in Australia as I had family committments here and we had chosen to live in Australia. David had legal matters to attend too – Divorcing his wife (split 10 years prior) and to fight tax evasion.
    David returned to Australia in December 2004 and was present at her birth. He did sign her Australia Birth Certificate and she has his surname. He returned to the UK when Kaylah was 6 and a half weeks old. His last words to my face – I promise I will be back to collect my girls!
    We were to return to the UK and live there as a family. He never kept his promise and stopped talkig to us just before Kaylah turned 1.
    He has never questioned that he is the father and has paid small amounts of support to date. We haven’t received a penny since April 2009.

    CSA in the UK have accepted this case and were looking for David to pay support. He has gone into hiding and the CSA have been lied too and have said that he isn’t living at the address given and I should get more information for them if they are to help.
    Kaylah doesn’t have a british passport or a british certificate to date, I would need to find David and get his authority to obtain one.
    I woulld prefer not to ever speak to him or having anything personally to do with him, if Kaylah wishes too then I will make every effort possible for that to happen. He has made my life hell and hasn’t given Kaylah a thought..

    I wish to change Kaylah’s surname but to do that through Australian Law I need to have a court order for Full custody, at a cost of $5000 or more for myself.
    That a bit hard when I cannot locate him and he wishes to have nothing to do with us. He doesn’t even send birthday card sor present sor anything for Christmas.
    I hope this answers your questions.
    Robyn.

  • Dad says:

    Get a life and move on!!

  • Robyn says:

    Clearly you have no morales just like David.. How many children do you have that you are not supporting???????

  • UK Father says:

    To flip your story on its head…

    I am a UK father, I have a 15 year old daughter, now living in Australia with her mother and step father. We unfortunately split up when my daughter was 2 years old and whilst my daughter was resident in the UK, up until 2 years ago, I have always paid what ever the UK CSA assessed me to pay. Money has always caused problems between my ex and I, as she was never happy with what I was paying, even though it was arranged through the CSA. The result is that my daughter has been brain washed over the years that I do not care about her, and her mother’s side of the family is more important than her fathers side. I have had to go to court over and over again to gain routine access and have always tried my best to be there for my daughter.

    Approx 4/5 years ago my ex wife informed me she wanted to emigrate to Australia, I obviously wasn’t happy about the situation but she promised me she would always maintain contact between my daughter and I and she would forfeit all maintenance I was paying so that I could use this to visit my daughter once a year. This was in a signed agreement between the two of us! Reluctantly I agreed to let her go, I didn’t want to drag it all through the courts again, for then to rule in her favour anyway. It took a year or two before they were finally ready to emigrate any my family and I went to the airport to see them off, probably the worst feeling I have ever had! Just wanted to grab on to my daughter and not let her go.

    Within 2 months of my ex wife getting out there, I was contacted by the Australian CSA stating I was to be assessed and my details had been forwarded to them via my ex wife.
    The assessment was totally unacceptable and unaffordable to me, they calculated the exchange rate at $2.40 to the pound when it was only $2 to the pound, (this made my earning look far more that they actually were) they wouldn’t allow me to claim for my resident step child who resides with my wife and I and obviously because I would not be able to see my daughter could not claim overnight allowance or any percentage of resident parenting. The assessment was way above what I could afford to pay and maintain a life for my family and I and still afford to visit my daughter each year.

    Unfortunately over the past year my ex wife has made it very difficult for me to contact my daughter, she has instructed me that I am not allowed to call my daughter on the land line (which I could do for free due to the contract I arranged with my provider) I can only contact her on her mobile phone, which is very expensive and she will not let my daughter use the computer to contact to any of her family from my side. The worst thing is she has let my daughter get involved with all the letters and assessments from the Australian CSA, manipulating her to believe I don’t actually care and if I did I would pay the huge sums of money they are seeking from me. This has resulted in the relationship between my daughter and I breaking down. I have left many messages on her mobile and contact websites but I am currently getting no reply!

    So I would just like to thank the Australian CSA and my ex wife in ruining the perfect relationship of another father and daughter! I don’t know how you sleep at night, as I don’t for worrying whether the Australian CSA can actually force my to pay the ridiculous sums of money they are asking!

  • Robyn says:

    Dear UK Father,
    I understand your pain and totally support you in your fight for your daughter. I don’t however agree with your X wife’s actions which will only continue to cause pain for both you and your daughter. All you can do is continue to be the best father you can under the circumstances. One day she will find out the truth. Keep a diary and let her read it one day.
    I never knew my biological Dad until I was 23 years old. There are always 2 sides of the story and believe me I have heard both sides. I chose to go somewhere in the middle and know that I was only the product of that relationship. Although I never had any brain washing or neither of my parents bad mouthed each other.
    As for my situation now, I kept the doors open for 5 years, even agreeing for him to come over and visit and stay at our house.. But true to form, 4 days from his arrival he said he wasn’t coming. So I had worded my littl girl up ready for his visit only to watch her be let down again. I also promised to never use my daugher against him which I have done to date.

    I have promised not to argue with him when he calls but he never does nor will he even take my daughters calls. So I decided it is in the best interest to keep my daughter away from David until she is old enough to understand and make her own decisions. I will take her to meet him then. I dont want him to disprut her life anymore than he has already.
    I only ever asked for 100 pounds a month just to help in supporting my daughter but even that was too hard..
    I have since found out that there is a 9 year old son who is in the UK. I just hope he is supporting him.
    I think people can be just shit and should really have a good look at themselves because inflicting this much pain on others can only carry bad karma which will catch up with you one day and be repaid ten fold.

  • Jodee says:

    There is nothing else they can do is there? I mean there not the police! If they dont know where he is?????

  • Robyn says:

    I agree with you Jodee CSA are not the police. I have told the courts and CSA his current address details and I have good information that he still lives there. There is just nothing to legally tie him there. No bills in his name nor is he on the lease. In Australia CSA are very powderful in retrieving money, and I know the harsh punishments in the UK for frued and not providing for children.
    I have hired a private investigator, he has told me that David has a son to a previous relationship amoungst other things. I will keep putting in the paper work until one day David lifts his head up and faces his responsibilities.
    That might be in 10 years when his daughter is standing in front of him.. Then he will have to answer to her..

  • Sarah Robinson says:

    Yes..it’s like my brother,John Warrington.He deliberately left the Uk to avoid paying child support for his three children.He owes thousands of pounds in backdated support.The kids will never have this money.They have had to grow up in poverty whilst he again hides his earnings,puts money in Uk accounts without the Australian authorities knowing,travels all over Australia so the Australian authorities don’t find him.In fact none of his so called friends in Australia even know he has three children in the uk.Wouldn’t you think they would wonder why a 50 year old guy is living on his own having fled the Uk?It’ the kids I feel sorry foe and the mum who is doing her best.

  • Kate Welsh says:

    Hi Robyn,

    It’s disgusting that the other parent can get away with shirking responsibilities towards children. I think it’s immoral and inhumane. I’m sorry you have been tricked by a terrible person. I hope he ends up jail, with all his assets sold and whatever is owed to you and your daughter transferred to you.

    But it wont happen, most likely. The Australian Child Support Agency are weak and the UK Child Support Agency are unwilling to assist. You can bet if he had a tax debt that they’d find him.

    Another side of the story is that the Australian public are mostly unaware of the cost for the tax payer when dead-beat dads/mums don’t pay child support. It must be worth a fortune in Family Assistance payments.

    There really needs to be law reform about this issue. It should be taken very seriously. It’s such a burden on the resident parent and the community. People go to jail for not paying parking fines…but neglect your child and ‘steal’ from the tax payers and apparently that’s perfectly legitimate.

    It’s a bloody mess – child support is a joke. And a waste of money.

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