The financial circumstances of a separated father can change. Sometimes they’re for the better, if you get a new job or you get a good pay rise. At other times they’re for the worse, for example, you get laid off or the company closes. Sadly, in the current recession, the bad instances are likely to outpace the good.
Whatever happens, if you Pay Child Support and things change, the Child Support Agency (CSA) will need to recalculate the amount you pay, if everything is done through them. It’s not as daunting as it sounds, and they really do work with you to adjust to your new circumstances.
What if You Lose Your Job
Losing your job and going on benefits obviously means a drastic reduction in your income, which will affect the amount you can pay in child support. The CSA will look at your case again if you lose your job and you’re getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, with no other income.
Where the new circumstances mean the amount of support will alter by £10 a week or more, then they’ll also re-open the case. Contacting them is easy, either through one of their offices or on the phone (08457 133 133 during office hours, including Saturday). Obviously, they can’t help you find a new job, but they can remove one area of stress from your life.
In some cases, your maintenance payments might have been taken off at source by your employer, so you’ll need to contact CSA about a new way of paying.
If You Become Self-Employed
If you no longer have a regular job, you might be inclined to try working for yourself to make money, and if you have a skill, it could work out – certainly it might be better than trying to survive on benefits. Obviously, however, it’s going to affect your income, and once again, CSA will work with you on calculating the amount you should be paying in child maintenance.
Normally, they’d look at the average weekly earnings you’d made as a self-employed person over the previous year. But when you’re starting out, that’s obviously impossible. Instead, they’ll see how much the business has grossed since it began, then take out all reasonable expenses and VAT in order to come up with an average weekly income, from which they can evaluate a new child support figure.
Again, it’s important that you contact CSA when you start working for yourself in order for them to make the new calculations. It’s in your own interests, as money is likely to be tight in the early days, and you’ll need to watch every penny. Remember, too, that they can obtain information from HMRC.
Getting Back to Work
If you’ve been unemployed and you’ve found a new job, you’ll be feeling relief. But it’s going to affect how much you pay each week in maintenance. The CSA website has an easy-to-use calculator that can let you see how much you’ll have to pay.
No matter what happens, it’s vital that you contact CSA as soon as possible. You’ll find that they really are there to help you – after all, you’ve been paying child support, not one of the deadbeat dads they have to chase down – and they’ll gladly work with you. Yes, they’re a bureaucracy and a government agency, but don’t let that put you off. Apart from anything else, you need them, and you should find that the process will go smoothly.
Of course, where you and your ex have come to a private agreement on child support and your income, or a large part of it, vanishes, then you’ll need to undertake negotiations through your lawyers to re-calculate the amount.
My son is nearly 16 and will probably leave school next year with a view to taking on a modern type apprenticeship. I have been paying the ex 20% of my wage for the upkeep of my 2 children, my daughter is 13. This has been going on since 2005. I have been fortunate enough to have my children from Friday night to Monday mornings when I have not been at work. Now whereas I want the best for my kids, having paid the ex £220,000 and selling the house at the time, I now find myself about skint, can't afford to switch the heating on etc. living in rented which I have done since I was divorced. The ex has since moved on and is living with a wealthy man and they have since had a daughter. Could anyone advise me as to what my obligations are regarding continuing maintenance for my son, because somewhere in all this I need a small break financially although I want to be right by my kids. Neither will I have any involvement with the CSA because I've only ever known them shaft blokes.
Andy - 18 December 2011 @ 10:15 AM
I have recenlty been made unemployed. I pay £300 pm maintenance to my ex and have done so since seperation. My ex now thinks I should still be paying her the same sum even though I have no income and no savings. In fact she states she has taken legal advice that tells her she is entitled to it? Is this correct and what is the legal position? Thanks
R - 17 November 2011 @ 9:06 PM
I have a job opportunity to work abroad. My child is 14 and at a point in her life when friends come 1st and dad last. I have been paying over £140 per month for over 10 years and I'm wondering if this would be affected with a considerable pay rise working in a different country. this is the only thing thats stopping me from going away knowing that my daughter doesn't get much of what my horrible ex wife gets.
colin - 18 August 2011 @ 8:48 PM
Whilst I agree with the information given here, I'd say if at all possible make arrangements with your ex to pay maintenance and don't involve the CSA, apart from perhaps using them to calculate what you should pay.
I'm one of the luckier ones in that my ex and I get on well enough to do this. Had she used the CSA I'd have lost my home as I am on an extremely low wage and could afford to cover both the 'recommended' maintenance costs, and my household bills. Don't get me wrong, I'd pay every penny I have to support my kids, but the fact is my ex and her new partner are far better off than I and didn't need it, so she was - and still is - willing to take a lower amount than I was assessed for.
As things go, though, I have to trust that my kids benefit from this money. I have no way of knowing or seeing what it gets used for. No one does, really. My kids are well dressed and looked after, but does the money I pay go to them or not? I've no way to know. My ex's joint income, with her new partner, is quadruple mine, so she's doing fine. I have to skip meals every second night before a kid's birthday so I can save a few quid to buy presents. Again, I don't mind, I'd give it all to my kids, but point is, do they get it?
Further more the CSA make a reduction for time the kid(s) sleep over with me, but none for the times I see them but don't have them sleep over. This, frankly, is wrong. It costs nothing to sleep. Yet when I have them for the afternoon I have exactly the same expenses to cover - petrol to collect and return them, food, fun, whatever. No allowance is made for that, so again to do it I skip meals (or whatever) myself.
I agree the CSA needs to exist to sort out those absent fathers (or mothers, it cuts both ways) that refuse to pay, but they sure don't help, or care, about ones like me, who want to pay all we can, but are being financially crippled at the same time. Unless, like me, lucky enough to have an ex who will work with me to make sure I don't end up homeless, or worse.
