Is anyone in the same position as me?

I have three children who share their home between my house and my stbx''s. They stay at my house approximately three quarters of the time. The rest of the time they are at their dads which is brilliant and seems to be working well for the children.

My stbx was paying CM for all three children but has now applied for the Child Benefit. He has been given child benefit for one of the children because they say he has them for nearly a third of the time and there are three of them.

He now doesnt have to pay CM for the one child he gets Child Benefit for as he is now classed as living with him full time because he receives the child benefit for him. BUT he lives with me over 70% of the time and it really doesnt seem fair considering he was already getting a reduction on CM for having the children for the time he does. I called the CSA and they have said I am right in thinking that my stbx can now claim CM from me when I start working for my son.

Has anyone else ever come accross this and is there anything I can do about it?

We are in the same situation as you but from your exes perspective. In answer to your direct question the CSA will look at it differently to the Child Benefit and we were told by the CSA that he will not be able to claim CSA from his ex as she has the children for the majority of the time.

We are in your exes position and made this exact enquiry just last week so I feel I can give you this answer, although I must say we are dealing with the CSA so you may get told one thing and us a completely different thing.

CB is normally paid to the parent the child lives with even if they''re away for a short while, as long as that''s not more than 56 days in any 16 week period. I would query the Child Benefit Office further for an explanation about how they came to their decision. CAB might be able to help.

HMRC make their decision based on the facts our situation was 3 children and dad has them for just over a third of the time.

They will take into consideration where the children are when they are sick, haircuts, activities, clothing, toys, where they are registered for Dr''s, dentist, school etc.

In our case we had to provide everything including replacement comforters for the children, as mum wouldn''t even share these, she refuses to share medicines and on occasions she has even refused to send coats with the children. So they have absolutely everything they need at my boyfriends from toothbrush, clothes, toys, footwear for all occasions etc, based on facts as the CB is NOT means tested it was decided by the HMRC that as my BF has the children for a third of the time he was entitled to a third share of the CB, therefore he claims for one child out of three. He uses that third share of CB for all the children whilst they are in his care. He pays his CM for two children but is not entitled to claim CM from mum for the one he receives CB for as CSA is based on nights with each parent.

Mum appealed this decision twice but it was rejected each time and now she cannot appeal again.

I believe if mum had tried to be fairer when it came to the children and finances we would not have been forced to take the action we did.

That''s what I think is unfair, not that my stbx has a third of the child benefit for the time they are with him but that he now only pays CM for two children even though there are three who live with me most of the time. I was thinking of appealing but it sounds unlikely I will get anywhere.

There are various bits of law and regulations and if the CB Office hasn''t adhered to them you would have grounds to appeal so you need a detailed explanation of the decision in writing.

For example, if there isn''t agreement about which parent should receive CM a parent would need to demonstrate they contribute to the expenses of raising a child such as providing clothing or pocket money. The cost of things like treats and travelling to visit a child don''t count because such expenses don''t relieve the financial burden of looking after a child.

The Child Benefit Technical Manual is here;

www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/cbtmanual/index.htm

I think the OP main issue is that there has been a reduction in CSA as a result of the CB claim. I think that (given what we were told) you could appeal the CSA decision but not the HMRC decision.