Child Support application query

Hi

I have been separated from my wife for around 10 months - around 5 months into the separation she told me she was pregnant. She has since had the child but I wasnt informed about the birth, the dob, whether I''m on the birth certificate etc.

Around 2 weeks ago I was left a voice message by DWP asking them to call back - when I did so it turned out to be the CSA and they started questioning me about the child and wanted information from them - they tried to get this from me over the phone but I told them that I''d prefer if they sent a postal application as I want to read and make sense of this before responding. They agreed to do this.

After two weeks of not hearing back from them I called them today for an update on what was happening as I did not want to look like I wasn''t actively pursuing this. I was put through to a horrendous staff member who refused to acknowledge that I hadn''t received their application form and said that they wouldn''t send out another one and that they would call me in the evening to complete my application.

Can someone please advise me on what I can do? Am I within my right to ask them to send another postal application as I want to sit down and read what they want from me before responding back?

Any help much appreciated

thanks

have you checked the website? I think you can download the apoplication which would allow you to go through it to check what is needed. (try here www.gov.uk/government/publications/appli...or-child-maintenance

You could also write to them rather than phoning, in future, which makes it easier to keep a record of what has been said, as you can keep copies, and the next person dealing with your case at the CSA is more likely to have full details, rather than a summary, in front of them.

Unfortuantely for you, claiming not to have received documents is quite a common stalling technique when people are refusing to cooperate so even though it is true in your case, it likely looks suspicious.

If you sfeel that a staff member is being rude or unprofessional you can always ask to speak to a superviso, r indeed, end the call, call back and ask to speak to a supervisor, if necessary.

As far as I am aware the only way you would be on the birth certificate is if you had been present at the registering of the birth. From what i can remember rules and regulations changed a few years ago which mean both parents have to be present to have their names on the birth certificate, a name cannot be added if the person isnt in attendance.

Just wanted to add, if you go to the local registry office you can pay for a copy of any birth certificate. There will be a fee and you will be asked to give a reason but essentially you could request anybodies birth certificate, so if you wanted to check no one elses name appeared on the birth certificate that would be one way to clarify!

I think both parents have to be present if they are not married. If the parents are married, then the husband is presumed to be the father. In fact, if you are married, the husband is presumed to be the father even if he isn''t in fact the father.

Thank you for your response.

I plan to tell CSA that from now on all future correspondence should be done by post as it''ll be the best way to keep a record of my contact with them.

As for the being present at birth for name to be added on birth certificate - this was obviously not the case for me - with that in mind how is my ex partner able to make a child maintenance claim if my name is missing from the certificate (or does that not matter at this stage)

I''m not sure how much it matters. I think if there was any doubt the onus would be on you to dispute your paternity and the CSA would request DNA tests.