Can my ex tell the CSA my maintenance payments were a gift?

October 10, 2012

My issue is not as severe as some on here but I am a little concerned about one thing.

I am paying for three children to two women. I agreed a monthly amount with them and have paid them by standing order ever since. However the two women concerned decided to conspire behind my back and go to the CSA thinking they would get more money. I have since dealt with the CSA and they used pay statements to calculate what I should be paying. It turns out I was paying more before the CSA got involved!

I am still paying the two mothers through standing order as advised by the CSA representative and I am putting “Child Maintenence” on the reference, again as advised.

My concern is this, looking at some horror stories online,it seems that the mother can accept this money as a “gift” and then go to the CSA and chase back payments of child Maint that I have not paid while I have been giving this “gift”. Is this true?

If so would I better paying to the CSA and letting them pay the mothers in order to cover myself in the event of more sour grapes from these two women?

Comments

  • chall says:

    john,

    The CSA can only backdate a case to the date of the initial contact with the NRP.

    You state the CSA have made the calculation. Have you been advised to continue making payments via SO direct to both mothers because the agency have NOT been asked to collect such OR are such voluntary payments whilst your waiting for a payment schedule?

    As you have SO’s set up and clearly marked ‘Child maintenance’ you should be able to provide evidence, as required by the CSA, of the payments.

    chall ~ afairercsaforall

  • Alice says:

    If you are paying the same amount each month to each ex and have bank statements to show this then it is likely that the CSA will consider this as good evidence that this money is in respect of Child Maintenance, especially if payments are consistant and pre-date the CSA effective dates. The advice to put ‘Child Maintenance’ as the reference is good advice in part, however it is still not classed as proof – with all due respect to yourself anyone can put anything as a reference on a bank transfer. Receipts signed by the mothers are better evidence than bank statements as long as they clearly state they are for child maintenance.

    Are the 2 payments for different amounts? Do you pay the mother with 2 children double what you pay the mother with 1 child? When you made private agreements with both ex partners was this done verbally or was there anything signed by yourself and them?

    However, if the PWCs say that the money was not in respect of CM then the CSA may be forced to collect the money for arrears from you. My advice (as someone who works in the Debt Enforcement section of CSA) is to stop the SOs immediately and start making payments via the agency.

  • chall says:

    Quote Alice on October 10th, 2012 7:28 pm ~ ‘My advice (as someone who works in the Debt Enforcement section of CSA) is to stop the SOs immediately and start making payments via the agency.’

    If a payment agreement with the CSA is to pay the P’sWC directly, then it may not be sensible to stop the SO’s immediately ~ we certainly would NOT want the OP in a position where ‘Debt Enforcement’ could deem them as non compliant and place a Deduction at source OR scorn the P’sWC.

    To enable payments through the CSA the NRP should make arrangements to do so. Contact the agency, advise them of such and they will send out a SO mandate.

    chall

  • Sally says:

    @ Alice – as someone who works for the Debt Enforcement section of the CSA…. based on the amount of complaints made to (and about) the CSA what would you change?

    It’s quite clear from the thousands and thousands of posts on these forums and complaints sent to the CSA, that it is failing in it’s task of benefiting the children.

    I completely agree with what chall says,
    “If a payment agreement with the CSA is to pay the P’sWC directly, then it may not be sensible to stop the SO’s immediately ~ we certainly would NOT want the OP in a position where ‘Debt Enforcement’ could deem them as non compliant and place a Deduction at source OR scorn the P’sWC.”

    Please be careful about the ‘advice’ you give people on these forums as you will not be the one who ends up in financial difficulty when things go wrong with the CSA (as the do, very often). Your ‘advice’ could actually cause more harm than good to the families reading your post as they might assume you know what you are talking about because you work for the CSA…

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