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12 month rule
- Vintagegarters
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21 Aug 14 #442576 by Vintagegarters
Topic started by Vintagegarters
My husband has two daughters aged 16 and 18 and has been divorced since 2005. At that time a Consent Order was signed which contains two references to child maintenance :
1. That he will pay £xxx per month for both children as child maintenance.
2. That he will pay child maintenance until they are 18 or finish first degree.
The eldest daughter left school in June and is heading to university in a month''s time. We contacted her mother to advise that we would be reducing the monthly payment to her by 25%. Separately, we have funded a £4000 endowment to support the eldest daughter at university as well as a monthly allowance of £200.
Mother has responded to say that we have to continue to pay her the full amount directly until both girls have finished university, so we are exploring whether we should invoke the 12 month rule. Despite taking legal advice (which was less than helpful) it is still not clear whether if, by using the CMA it will also negate the terms in the consent order related to paying until the girls leave university. Solicitor seemed to imply that CMA would only apply until their jurisdiction ends then we would have to go back to the consent order, which just seems bonkers.
Can anyone help, please ?
1. That he will pay £xxx per month for both children as child maintenance.
2. That he will pay child maintenance until they are 18 or finish first degree.
The eldest daughter left school in June and is heading to university in a month''s time. We contacted her mother to advise that we would be reducing the monthly payment to her by 25%. Separately, we have funded a £4000 endowment to support the eldest daughter at university as well as a monthly allowance of £200.
Mother has responded to say that we have to continue to pay her the full amount directly until both girls have finished university, so we are exploring whether we should invoke the 12 month rule. Despite taking legal advice (which was less than helpful) it is still not clear whether if, by using the CMA it will also negate the terms in the consent order related to paying until the girls leave university. Solicitor seemed to imply that CMA would only apply until their jurisdiction ends then we would have to go back to the consent order, which just seems bonkers.
Can anyone help, please ?
- WYSPECIAL
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21 Aug 14 #442579 by WYSPECIAL
Reply from WYSPECIAL
If you mean CMS (child maintenance service) then an assessment from them would over ride the court order as they have jurisdiction over the court.
Not sure what would happen here though as you may have left it too late. Eldest will only fall under CMS remit until beginning of September so you would have to apply quickly.
Someone more expert would confirm but once a court order is ended i don''t think it can be resumed at some point in the future so if the CMS did assess then it would be finished.
Not sure what would happen here though as you may have left it too late. Eldest will only fall under CMS remit until beginning of September so you would have to apply quickly.
Someone more expert would confirm but once a court order is ended i don''t think it can be resumed at some point in the future so if the CMS did assess then it would be finished.
- Vintagegarters
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21 Aug 14 #442581 by Vintagegarters
Reply from Vintagegarters
Thank you. The solicitor recommended that we split the payment we currently make in half, give one half to the eldest daughter directly and the other half to the mother until the younger daughter goes off, then pay youngest daughter directly until she leaves uni. However, if I understand you correctly we would only have to pay their mother 75% for another two years and would have no legal obligation to pay the girls. We would of course subsidise them, but 50% of the monthly amount we pay their mother plus the £4k endowment each would mean they''d be better off than pretty much everyone else at uni !
- WYSPECIAL
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21 Aug 14 #442584 by WYSPECIAL
Reply from WYSPECIAL
Trouble is if you split the payment and only give the mother half whilst the court order is in place then she could asked for it to be enforced as you would have failed to comply with it.
The fact that you have given money directly to your daughter or that the mother may have had no intention of passing it on wouldn''t come into it.
The fact that you have given money directly to your daughter or that the mother may have had no intention of passing it on wouldn''t come into it.
- Vintagegarters
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21 Aug 14 #442593 by Vintagegarters
Reply from Vintagegarters
The intention was that we would agree the 50:50 split in writing and have it "authorised" via a solicitor (as suggested by the solicitor). He said we wouldn''t need to go back to court and that is signed doc would be sufficient. Was that utter twaddle ?
- Child Maintenance Options
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28 Aug 14 #443091 by Child Maintenance Options
Reply from Child Maintenance Options
Hi Vintagegarters
Thank you for your post. It is possible to change the terms of your Consent Order but to do this you will need to get legal advice. This usually results in going back to court to set out the application on a standard form. The court will then consider any changes.
Any Consent Orders that were endorsed after March 2003 are not legally subject to change unless they have been in place for at least 12 months. After 12 months, either parent can apply to the Child Maintenance Service and the Consent Order will no longer be valid.
Under child support legislation, regular child maintenance payments must be made until a child is 16 years old, or 20 if they are in full-time, non-advanced education (A-level or equivalent), or for as long as Child Benefit is being paid.
When a child leaves full-time education in the summer, Child Benefit generally continues until the first week of September. For further information and list of course that are classed as advanced education, you can visit the following link www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop.
For more information on the different ways to set up child maintenance, you can visit the Child Maintenance Options website at www.cmoptions.org. They also have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is: www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Sorting-Out-Separation.html.
Regards
William
Thank you for your post. It is possible to change the terms of your Consent Order but to do this you will need to get legal advice. This usually results in going back to court to set out the application on a standard form. The court will then consider any changes.
Any Consent Orders that were endorsed after March 2003 are not legally subject to change unless they have been in place for at least 12 months. After 12 months, either parent can apply to the Child Maintenance Service and the Consent Order will no longer be valid.
Under child support legislation, regular child maintenance payments must be made until a child is 16 years old, or 20 if they are in full-time, non-advanced education (A-level or equivalent), or for as long as Child Benefit is being paid.
When a child leaves full-time education in the summer, Child Benefit generally continues until the first week of September. For further information and list of course that are classed as advanced education, you can visit the following link www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop.
For more information on the different ways to set up child maintenance, you can visit the Child Maintenance Options website at www.cmoptions.org. They also have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is: www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Sorting-Out-Separation.html.
Regards
William
- Vintagegarters
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28 Aug 14 #443101 by Vintagegarters
Reply from Vintagegarters
Hi William. Thanks for your post - I was aware of all of the content but it''s helpful for you to lay it out so clearly. However, the question still remains - does invoking the 12 month rule absolutely and categorically negate our obligation to pay for the girls while they are at university as stated in the original consent order ? CMS says "Yes", solicitor says "No".
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