should i use the csa??

please help if you can,
received nisi and awaiting absolute very soon. have been separated since last july and almost taken full responsibility for my 12 yr old daughter who lives with me at my mums untill my mh is sold as ex lives there with gf. have not received a single penny for anything including my daughters upkeep yet my solicitor hasnt yet mentioned maintainance. due in court june for first hesaring, should i wait for the courts to decide on maintainance or is it worth contacting the csa for their input instead???? im not sure what to do, many thanx

The Court cannot make an order with respect to child support, unless it is agreed by both parents.

Unless you can agree a figure between you which the Court can then rubber stamp, you would be best to go to the CSA - at least for an initial assessment.

If you are asking for maintenance above what the CSA would require your ex to pay, he is not going to agree to it, because he doesn't have to.

Courts cannot normally impose CM. However, if there is a chance your husband would agree CM and it's included in the Consent Order courts appear to be more successful at enforcement when non payment is an issue. This is particularly true when the NRP is self employed or doesn't declare earnings.

I'm not an expert --just know in my experience I was pressured to leave the CSA out of the Order, and consequently 5 years ago I may have got 1/2 of what I would have got had CSA been involved. When unfortunately I had to go on Income Support, they were concerned that CSA was never contacted and therefore I lost money in that way too, where a rebate of 10pounds per week would have really helped out. My advice for what's it's worth, go to CSA, it will be some time before your daughter becomes self-supporting.

The problem is, as we all know, the CSA isn't the most efficient organisation and there are a lot of people who have waited years and received nothing by going through the CSA. When it is a PAYE case it is less problematic and it's worth applying, but when the NRP is self employed/doesn't declare earnings and is unlikely to cooperate then it may be worth trying to get agreement in the form of a consent order. The reform going through Parliament to replace the CSA with C-MEC in May is based on allowing parents to make their own arrangements and doesn't exactly sound optimistic either. See;

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/mar/02/childcare.parents

Divorce Veteran,

I don't really understand. CM is either by court order or assessed by the CSA. Since March 2003 courts couldn't impose an order and it would make no sense to agree an amount less than CSA rates. Or was yours a Consent Order before that date?

Yes, Fiona it was a consent order in Sept 2001. I was pressured to agree that my self employed husband by agreement would pay me what I now understand was half of what CSA would have been. Had I been adequately advised that my kids would have been better off, I would have gone that route. There was a phrase that was agreed between the solicitors that CSA was not to be referred to ...Hope this clarifies. Within two years I could have returned to court, but by that time I couldn't face Court because I was too ill and would face fear of reprisal from my exhusband, and his emotional abuse of me all over again. Thus income support deducted ALL child support as income, and penalized me because I did not claim from CSA. Thanks for asking me to clarify. It may be helpful to other people in the same boat

Doodles I was in a similar situation and yes yes yes get csa involved as courts do not deal with cm also get your sols ass kicked and get to court for interim maintainance also I did as I left him in house and got the 2 kids with me agd 8 and 10, I have still got ongoing battle with csa but get sm at moment also csa is paid back to when they first contact your x
get things moving for you and your daughter and I will give you any help support advice I can
looby