friend and the CSA

[scottishlass]

bit of back ground

couple been seperated about 11-12 years two children now 16-13
he had no contact not allowed not sure of the full facts here, been chased by the CSA he is willing to pay he is currently self employed and to be honest just making ends meet but would like to support children.

2 weeks ago his children came to see him with an uncle and grandmother seems that the 16 year old has now left the mothers home and is staying with grandmother the 13 year old has always stayed with his grandmother ( father did not know this) the grandmother receives nothing for the upkeep.

question one. should she be claiming payments (mother) if child (13) has never lived with her?
2. father wants to offer support but to the grandmother will he still be chased by csa ?

as far as he can tell (doesn't want to ask too many questions as want to keep contact) grandmother doesn't receive child benefit either.

son has already asked if anything should happen to his granmother can he come stay with his dad, which of course he can.

hope someone can help I know it is a bit muddled sorry.

xx

[shell]

Re: friend and the CSA

If I was him, I would inform the CSA of the situation. In fact I would be contacting the social work department to let them know of the situation. They should then be able to sort out that the child benifit goes to the grandmother. Also any benifits that she is due for looking after the kids.

I would imagine the CSA would take a very dim view of the mother trying to claim for children she doesn't actually look after or support. Fraud springs to mind.

[scottishlass]

Re: friend and the CSA

thanks shell that is what I thought, he is scared of rocking the boat as he wasn't allowed to see his kids, he doesn't want to lose them again, but on the other hand, he is possibly paying for the upkeep of another two kids she has had since seperation (not his), and his own is going without.

[Amethyst]

Re: friend and the CSA

Yip, the child maintenance should go to the person with care, ie the grandmother. Who is the CSA chasing on behalf of ? Definately call the CSA and talk to them.

Has he been paying anything since the seperation ?

[scottishlass]

Re: friend and the CSA

for both children until recently as the daughter is now 16, he has paid not really sure of how much and how often, he has arrears also to pay. Just seems wrong she should be getting anything now, he is willing to pay the grandmother. this has all just come to light and as you can imagine after so many years emotions are high as he had no contact since they were really small.

[shell]

Re: friend and the CSA

thanks shell that is what I thought, he is scared of rocking the boat as he wasn't allowed to see his kids, he doesn't want to lose them again, but on the other hand, he is possibly paying for the upkeep of another two kids she has had since seperation (not his), and his own is going without.

Unless there was a court order preventing him from seeing his kids, they are now old enough to decide for themselves. So rocking the boat isn't an issue. They now know where to find him.

The issue he should be concerned about is the fact that his kids might have to do without because any provision in place for their upkeep is being used by the mother for everything but their upkeep.

[Amethyst]

Re: friend and the CSA

I can imagine it would be quite distressing if he has been paying all this time thinking his children were with their mother and he was contributing to their upkeep, and instead they were elsewhere and receiving none of his money. If he has arrears has the maintenance been paid under the CSA for a long period ? If so and the grandparents state that it hasnt been passed on to them from the children's mother then yes it could be construed as fraud on her part. However whether the grandparents would say that is another matter. He has to speak to the CSA before doing anything further.

If the children are with the grandparents and the grandparents have now instigated contact, I can't see that the mother could now stop any contact because she doesnt have guardianship of the children - do you know if the mother has transferred guardianship legally to the grandparents or if they have just ended up living there informally for a number of years ? I expect there are some rules about this, but I don't know them unfortunately. Its a difficult situation for him.

[scottishlass]

Re: friend and the CSA

think he has paid on and off for years, he tried through solicitors etc to have contact, he travelled a few times to Inverness to see them but she would not let him, I do think at that time he thought why should he pay if he has no contact and stopped paying, but as I said I really don't know the full story of how much and how often he has paid I know recently he was paying about £80 per week.

I think he was shocked that his son had never lived with his mother and wants nothing to do with her (13) don't think they would have anything legally drawn up in respect of guardianship.

[Amethyst]

Re: friend and the CSA

Bloody hard, although you don;'t know the full circumstances, he must be going through a huge range of feelings at the moment. If she didn't want them, why couldnt he have them instead of grandparents and so on. I feel for him.

Sorry I can't be any more help, but he needs to talk to the CSA.

[scottishlass]

Re: friend and the CSA

he is in a right mess head is just spinning, he always spoke about them and thought that maybe one day they would get in contact.

I will tell him tonight what he needs to do and will keep you updated.

Thanks for all the help.xx

[shell]

Re: friend and the CSA

If I was him I would be contacting the DSS to inform them of the situation as well.