CSA and reduced contact

I have clear admissions recorded from my ex stating that she is reducing my contact with my 3 daughters purely for financial reasons ie, more csa. my experience of the csa is that they couldnt give a monkeys about the bigger picture, they just want the money. can someone answer me honestly, is this acceptable? she is taking my 3 girls to devon permenantly within a month and my contact of 6 nights in 14 will reduce to none. will anyone even ask her to explain how this is good for the children?

I think its disgraceful that a parent can withhold contact and then expect CM. (unless there is evidence that the child is at risk which a court should decide)

The CSA is such a blunt tool not really sure what the solution is.

Will the distance be to far for alternate weekends contact?

essex to devon .... 6 hours each way. not ideal for 3 young girls at school. i personally think its a disgrace and its blackmail but legislation makes it illegal to refuse to pay the ransome. im hopeing that the csa maintain the current level im paying until the case is sorted at court.

the CSA won't maintain your current level of payment if your ex tells them there has been a changed to the shared care arrangement. You could stall things by not responding, refusing to speak to them, not sending in information etc. etc. but all you're going to do is build arrears for yourself. They are simply a maintenance collection agency - they don't deal in the rights and wrongs of contact and residence, that's the courts' jurisdiction.

As for them 'not caring', I had a caseworker a few months ago ask me what arrangements were in place for contact now that our shared care arrangement had changed so dramatically - obviously, there was nothing she could do if I told her I couldn't care less about contact with the ex, but she did at least show some recognition that there is an issue. Ultimately, her job is to collect maintenance, not pass judgement on individual circumstances.

Have you tried to prevent the move via PSO from court?

No hope with CSA i'm afraid.

jaymdee wrote:

I think its disgraceful that a parent can withhold contact and then expect CM. (unless there is evidence that the child is at risk which a court should decide)

Two wrongs don't make a right. Children of separated families often have poor long term outcomes because there isn't enough money so financial contributions are one of the most important contributions a parent can make to the welfare of their child. It's bad enough one parent using a child as a weapon against the other parent without the other parent using the child as a weapon too.

Children need at least one parent to forgo the determination of "who is right and who is wrong" and put the interests of children first.

It is also disgraceful that a NRP with a very good lifestyle can evade the CSA for 4 years and not pay a penny to the children while living in luxury himself.
I'm at the stage with my ex where he can keep his bl**dy money if paying towards his kids really irks him and his wife so much that they'd fight for 4 years not to have to as long as he stays the hell away from me and the kids!