What happens if...

I currently have a private child maintenance agreement but I do not have any contact with my ex and this was agreed 4 years ago. I have no idea how much he earns.

If I was to apply to the CMS and they came back with a figure and it was lower, can I refuse to accept the service and continue with the private agreement?

If it was higher, do they only collect the difference between the private agreement and the new figure?

Many thanks.

If you ask CMS to assess they will do that and then that is the amount that will be payable.

You can''t ask for a "quote" then decide if you will take it or not.

If it is less than you currently get then you could close the case and go back to a private arrangement with you ex if they agreed but would they?

If it is higher then that is the amount they will collect. Your private agreement will be ended. They don''t just collect the difference.

Hello Wishfulthinking

I would concur with Wyspecial

In addition, if you want to make your own research about what your X may be earning currently and you know what field he is working in, a site such as this www.payscale.com/research/UK/Country=United_Kingdom/Salary may help you get a general idea? Then you could plug his data in the site www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenance to calculate likely CSA payments and then make your mind up from this as to whether you wish to proceed more officially?

only a thought

NL_SIC

Many thanks for your replies. I have a rough idea of his basic but he has a company car which affects his tax code, sharesave, annual bonuses and pension payments.

At the time we worked out he was paying about £100 over the required CSA rate but I can''t work out whether it is better through the CMS scheme. His solicitor will no doubt have advised him to increase his pension payments.

The positive thing is that even if I do end up with a lower payment, at least it will be reviewed annually.

As the dad on the other side, I can tell you that he will not be very pleased if he''s already contributing to his kids what is a reasonable amount.

If he was paying about £100 over 4 years ago, do you think he would be earning more now, or got an increase? We have just come through a recession, and very few people will have come out of the last 4 years better off.

Have you tried emailing or writing him a letter saying that you''d like to double check the child maintenance? I would prefer my ex to ask me, rather than get CMS to suddenly be contacting me.

He''s not happy he is contributing anyway! I have had to remove a child maintenance clause in the Consent Order as he does not want to pay anything after their 17th birthdays.

And yes he gets an annual payrise, bonus and share options - do you think he has mentioned these or recalculated himself and offered extra during this time? No.

As for the extra £100, that is to cover 3 children based on his basic only so on bonus I would take it he has been paying the rate under the old scheme.

I have no contact with him. He is signing the Consent Order on Monday along with his Statement of Information: it will be the first indication to me of what he is earning but 1) is is likely to be inaccurate and 2) is net so probably won''t help me.

He also refused a clause in the Consent Order for him to supply his P60 etc once a year to me. So I hope this helps understand why I am in a quandry - it would be very easy if I was dealing with a reasonable person who put his children first.

I assume that the £100 over the odds at CSA rates was per month?

For 3 children he would need to be earning an extra £400 per month to reach this level of payment.

Allowing for tax and NI his salary will have needed to increase by about £7k per annum to cover the extra £100 per month. That doesn''t allow for pension contributions so if he is paying those it will need to be higher still.

For your payment to increase he will need to be earning at least £7k a year more than he was when you made the agreement. Is that likely?

On the other hand if he objects to paying more than he has to why hasn''t he gone to the CSA himself?

CMS is payable up to 20 if still in non advanced education so he is wasting his time trying to get clauses not to pay after age 17