breach of court order

My ex signed a financial court order and said in the court order he would never claim the child benefit for our 2 children.
He has now claimed child benefit for 1 child which means that CSA have taken away his payments for that child. He earns in excess of £52,000 and is now paying me £58 per month to support 2 children on a 50/50 residence.
I cant afford to take him back to court over the breach. Help is desperately needed to overcome this problem.

Hi King Henry,

Welcome to Wikivorce!

Your ex has the children 50% of the time?

In the new CMO formula - I think I remember reading that if both parents equally share contact with the children then there should be no CM payments. You would need to clarify this, however.

Is it written anywhere that he should not claim the CB, or was it just a statement he made?

If it is just a statement he made then there is no breach and you are unable to enforce it.

Has your relationship deteriorated since the statement was made? Are you able to discuss the finances properly?

WR

The situation over the child benefit was set up in a family court order and is in writing and signed! He is trying to wreck me financially I need to know what to do about the breach of the court order?
I have already tried to go through solicitors over this but I can''t afford to go any further.
Thank you for your reply

Do you have exact 50:50 care? How much are you not getting? It could be that CSA have stopped part of your payment as you have exact split care. What did your solicitors say?

Ultimately if you are unable to negotiate with your ex and you want to enforce the order then you will need to go to court.

WhiteRose is correct that families under CSA3 regulations will not have to pay maintenance to each other in cases where care is split 50/50. I think only new applications are being put under CSA3 rules at this point but later all cases will be transferred across to the new scheme, so this is something to be prepared for.

Where in the order is the provision that he won''t claim the child benefit? Is it in the preamble (the bit before where is says either "The Court Orders" or "By Consent it is Ordered") or the main order?

If it''s part of the order, then you should appeal to HMRC and indicate in your appeal that this is part of a court order.

If it''s not in the court order then you''ll face difficulties: If there are 2 children who spend 50% of their time with their father then there is nothing inherently wrong with father claiming the child benefit for one of the children.

You should also ask the CSA for a recalculation because the numbers simply don''t add up. He should be paying maintenance for one child at 15% of his net income, the amount he pays is reduced by 50% and reduced by a further £7 (because you have a 50/50 share). This would make his income less than £15000 per year.

I have obtained a D11 form in an attempt to get my ex back to court in the hope that I can prove he breached the Family Law court order by filing for child benefit which in the relevant clause he signed to say he would never do.

What is the exact wording of the order - does it say something along the lines he made an undertaking to the court not to claim CB?