No maintenance

Hi i dont know if anyone can answer my ques but here goes .... my ex h doesnt want to see our 2 boys and refuses to pay csa payments aswell ... the csa tried to take him to court in dec 2010 for imprisonment but he didnt turn up .My ques is this we have a court order which states when i co habit or re marry or when my youngest is 18 i have to give him 25% of the equity of the house but wot i want to know is will he still be entitled to this even though he doesnt pay for the 2 children and prob wont pay for them ever ????

The short answer is yes, he is entitled to it. If you failed to pay, or if you deducted his arrears from it before paying him, you would be in breach of the order.

However, if you liaise with the CSA when the time approaches to pay him, they may be able to eforce the arrears against him - for example, if the property is still in both of your names, they may be able to get a charge over his interest in the property (which would mean they had, in effect, a mortgage over his interest in the property)

If it is your sle name they might be able it may be possible for them to apply for a third party debt order, to require a thrid party (such as the conveyancing solicitor) to freeze his share of the money, to allow the CSA to claw this back.

Bear in mind these applications take time, (and the powers of the CSA may change over time) so it would be sensible to review the situation if/when one of the trigger pppoints is approaching, and liaise withthe CSA at that point so they have time to apply for any appropriate orders.

Hi Bagpuss thanks for the reply ... the house is in my sole name now at least i know that maybe something can be done when like you say any of the trigger points happen i will be sure to contact the useless csa people and see if they will help me at all cos so far they havent helped and they have had my case for 4 years now xx;)

the csa staff generally are great, it's the system that is flawed. keep ringing about maintenance and keep records of names etc of calls.

are the arrears a lot? It may be worth suggesting a deal with your ex - especially if you can borrow some money and with house values at a low.

Suggest to him that you may agree with the csa to write off the arrears with them (yes you can do this - and only you) and buy him out of his 25% equity share or some such thing.

If he's a deadbeat dad and in financial trouble facing imprisonment maybe you can turn it to yours and the children's advantage

I have thought about this and yes he is a dead beat dad he lives in a hostel and is taking drugs on a daily basis ( i do have proof)the arrears at the mo are £5000 and as the house stands today he would be entitled to £25.000

Might be worth trying it then if you can raise some extra money-mortgage or family. Just make sure you can afford the borrowing first. If he's a druggie and in debt then you may be able to sort something out. By the way the equity is usually calculated as the sale price less all the costs (estate agents fee + vat+solicitors' costs etc) so it may be less than you think. Be careful dealing with him though - perhaps someone could sound him out on your behalf - and definitely not in writing. good luck