Hello Marcomainman
You may wish to contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), to get the Child Benefit transferred over to yourself, for your sons. I have included their contact details below:
HM Revenue and Customs - Child Benefit
Telephone number: 0300 200 3100
Opening hours: 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm Sat
Website:
www.hmrc.gov.uk
There are various ways that
child maintenance can be arranged, there is a family-based arrangement which is an arrangement agreed between parents without the intervention/ involvement of the Government or legal system and is not legally enforceable. There is the option of the Child Maintenance Service which is the Government’s statutory maintenance service, who can calculate maintenance leaving parents to arrange payment between themselves, or collect payments and pay to the parent/ main carer. There is also a
Consent Order/ Minute of Agreement which is an arrangement through the courts.
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 on when maintenance ends and what courses are classed as full-time non-advanced education, you may find the following link useful
www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop
For more information on the different ways to set up child maintenance and for a more personalised service, you can visit the Child Maintenance Options website at
www.cmoptions.org
The DWP 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
