Why UK Family Law is an Abusers'
Charter - and Why my life - and career - can not, and will not - be my own again until I leave the United Kingdom for good...
The below shows the kind of things
which can happen in the UK if you don't (Or Quite simply cannot!!!)
pay. It takes no account of your own living expenses, the fact that
you may have suffered domestic abuse as I did, it takes no account of
the cost of living crisis, it takes not account of your mental or
physical health. Indeed, many 'Paying Parents' have become homeless
or committed Suicide due to the CMS - I myself threatened to kill
myself if they would not stop harassing me; I actually tried to kill
myself on one occasion (It was Gloria who stopped me).
I have told them that they behave just
like concentration camp guards, just 'paid to do a job'. I told them,
"did you know that my ex wife ran up thousands in debt I cannot
pay, I have almost died from liver failure due to developing a drink
problem as a result if the abuse (the two robberies at knifepoint and
almost losing an eye in one of them made it worse), I had been
diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder; and I also warned that
if they took me to court over money I quite simply did not have, they
might have to explain to my beautiful daughters why their father
committed suicide.
And by the way, my ladies are the only
reason I bothered to stop drinking. I have been abstinent ever sine,
but I must never again drink - not even to celebrate leaving this
nightmare behind to begin a new life.
The CMS are a product of Conservative
party ideology (just like the poll tax, which is in itself worthy of
a Google search - and yes, I am old enough to remember it!). There is
also no certainty that the money will ***ACTUALLY*** be used to
support the children either - it is more likely to be used to
support my abusive ex-wife’s expensive lifestyle. Money, money
money - her brutal gold digger mentality is what and all motivated
her to marry me - as well as papers to stay in this overpriced,
overhyped country. To speak not of the current crisis which is making
headlines all over the world at time of writing!
A classic demonstration of her
motivation came within days of the death of my father in 2014. She
was asking about my inheritance - before he had even had his
funeral!!! She has since become a nurse - but for what motivation?
Not for compassion for patients, but to satisfy her ego and her
feeling of self image. Thank god my mother (who is 77) lives a long
way outside London - if she ended up in the care of my ex wife!!!
What might she do...
What indeed!
You see now why I have branded the CMS
as an abusers' charter, and why, in the name of the lord, I am
determined to ensure that not a single penny of my inheritance ends
up in the pockets of my ex wife! She also once told my parents that
they should "sell one of the houses and giver her the money".
Needless to say, they refused.
My intention is to take as much of my
inheritance as possible out of the UK, into safe keeping for my new
family - I may indeed have to invest some of it in our business. And
needless to say, when I am gone I wish my existing daughters - and
the new children planned in Burkina Faso to benefit from it and the
business. ***Not my ex wife!***
You can see now why I brand the CMS and
UK family law an abusers' charter, and why I say that my ex-wife "has
the personality profile of Vladimir Putin. Indeed, she shares his
personality traits.
All of them. (I wish sometimes that one
of my degrees were in psychology).
After arriving in Burkina Faso I will
be releasing the book I have been writing "When the Nightmare
Came" and an accompanying video. And the CMS will no longer be a
threat either as they have no powers of enforcement after I leave the
UK, unless I work for a UK based employer or HMS armed forces. Which
needless to say, I will not be.
I do believe, even prior to the
publication of my book, that readers will understand my strategy and
strength of feeling on the matter. Of course, for intelligent people,
the above might raise questions as to how and why I ever got involved
with such a woman in the first place? Well we have to see things in
the context of my circumstances in 2006 when we met, which are
documented in quite some detail in my book.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Citizens' Advice Bureau
(https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance1/if-you-owe-child-maintenance/).
If you owe child maintenance
This advice applies to England. See
advice for See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Scotland,
See advice for Wales
You can be chased for unpaid child
maintenance by your child’s other parent or by the Child
Maintenance Service (CMS).
What you can do if you owe child
maintenance depends on how you pay it. You might:
pay it direct to the other parent
have it collected by the CMS and paid
to the other parent
In either case, you should first check
the amount you’re being asked to pay is correct.
The payments you owe are called
‘arrears’. If you don’t pay the arrears, the CMS
can take steps to get the money from you.
If your child’s other parent is
chasing you for arrears
It’s best to talk to them first
if you can.
If you disagree with how much they say
you owe, ask them to show how they’ve calculated the amount. If
they’re claiming you missed some payments and you disagree,
you’ll need to prove you made them. For example, you could show
bank statements which list the payments you made.
If you agree with the amount but can’t
afford to pay, try to agree a repayment plan with the other parent.
You can check how much you could afford to pay.
If you arranged maintenance directly
with the other parent and can’t agree a repayment plan with
them, they could ask the CMS to collect maintenance instead. The CMS
can’t make you pay any arrears under the arrangement you had
with the other parent.
If the CMS are chasing you for arrears
The CMS will chase you for arrears if
you pay maintenance:
by Direct Pay and the other parent has
told them you’ve missed payments
by Collect and Pay
The CMS will write to tell you what you
owe. This is called an ‘arrears notice’. It should
include a list of the payments you’ve made. If it doesn’t,
ask the CMS for one.
If you disagree with the amount of
arrears, check the amount the CMS say you owe. If they haven’t
taken account of payments you’ve made, send them evidence you
made the payments. For example, you could send a copy of your bank
statements.
You should also ask them not to enforce
the arrears while you’re challenging the amount.
If you agree the amount is correct but
can’t afford to pay, try to agree a repayment plan with the
CMS. You can check how much you could afford to pay. You should send
the CMS details of your income and expenses and explain how much you
can afford to pay. Remember that you’ll need to keep paying
maintenance at the same time as paying off the arrears in a
reasonable time.
You can write to the CMS or call them.
If you write, keep a copy of your
letter.
If you call, make a note of when you
called, who you spoke to and what they said. Follow your call up with
a letter so you have a written record of what was said. You might
need this if there’s a dispute in the future.
Child Maintenance Service
Child Maintenance Service 21
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 2BU
Telephone: 0800 171 2345
Textphone: 0800 232 1975
Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 3.30pm
Calls are free from mobiles and
landlines.
Making an offer to clear your arrears
You can offer to clear the arrears with
a single payment that’s less than the full amount you owe.
This is known as a ‘part payment
in full and final settlement’.
It will only clear the arrears - if
your child still qualifies for maintenance, you’ll have to keep
making those regular payments.
Your child’s other parent and the
CMS will have to agree to your offer of a part payment. If the other
parent agrees to it, they can’t change their mind later. The
CMS won’t agree if they think you can afford to pay the arrears
in full.
If both parents and the CMS agree to a
part payment, the CMS will write to confirm how and when the part
payment should be made.
If you don’t pay, the CMS can
cancel the agreement and try to get the arrears back in other ways.
If you don’t pay the arrears
The CMS can take action against you to
make you pay. This is called ‘enforcement action’.
If you’re an employee, the CMS
can try to take money from your wages.
If you’re not an employee, they
can try to take money from your bank or building society account.
They might do this if you’re self-employed or retired. They can
take either:
regular payments
a one-off amount - known as a ‘lump
sum’
The CMS can take money from business,
partnership or joint accounts.
If the CMS can’t recover the
arrears from your wages or bank account, they can ask the court for a
‘liability order’. They’ll then be able to get
money to pay the arrears by:
asking bailiffs to take things from you
and sell them
getting a court order to force you to
sell your home
If that still doesn’t clear the
arrears, the CMS can ask a court to consider:
taking away your driving licence or
passport
sending you to prison
If the CMS take money from your Wages
This means the CMS have made a
‘deduction from earnings order’. You might get one if
you’re an employee and either:
you’re in arrears and haven’t
been able to agree a repayment plan with the CMS
you haven’t kept to an agreement
to pay off your arrears
The CMS will usually add an enforcement
fee of £50 to what you owe. In some situations you won’t
have to pay another fee, like if they’re trying to impose more
than one order because you have more than one job or have recently
changed jobs. You’ll only have to pay one fee.
Talk to an adviser if you’re not
sure if you have to pay it.
You’ll get an arrears notice from
the CMS before they make the order. If you don’t want them to
make it, try to agree a repayment plan with them.
The CMS might agree not to make the
order if you’ve paid regularly in the past and agree to set up
a direct debit.
The CMS will make the order if you
don’t respond to the notice or you can’t agree a
repayment arrangement with them.
The CMS will send a copy of the order
to you and your employer. It will say:
how much you owe
how much your employer should deduct
each time you get paid
The CMS can’t take more than 40%
of your net income. Your net income is the money left after you've
paid tax and National Insurance.
Your employer can charge you up to £1
for each deduction they make. They can be prosecuted if they don’t
deduct the arrears and pay them to the CMS.
If you want to get the order cancelled
The CMS might cancel a deduction from
earnings order in certain circumstances, for example, if:
it’s not working - like if you
keep changing jobs or your earnings are so low they can’t make
a deduction
there’s a better way of
collecting the payments - like taking money from your bank account
you agree a different way to pay with
the CMS and they think it’s reasonable to cancel the order
If you’re unhappy about a
deduction from earnings order, you should:
offer to make reasonable repayments
keep up with regular maintenance
payments
The CMS aren’t likely to accept
your offer to repay the arrears if you haven’t kept up regular
payments in the past.
If you think the deductions are too
high
You can ask for more time to repay the
arrears if you can show the deductions are too high. You need to tell
the CMS about the effects that level of deductions is having on you
and any child you’re responsible for. For example, you might
not be able to afford to visit them any more.
If the CMS won’t take this into
account, talk to an adviser.
If your maintenance payments are
reduced because your circumstances change
The CMS must change the deduction from
earnings order if the amount of maintenance you have to pay has gone
down because, for example:
your wages have gone down by 25% or
more
you have a child with your new partner
Make sure you tell the CMS about
changes like these and ask them to review your deduction from
earnings order.
Appealing against an order
You might also be able to appeal
against a deduction from earnings order. You must appeal to the court
within 28 days of the date on the order.
You can only appeal in limited cases -
an adviser can help you understand when you can.
You should talk to an adviser if you
want to appeal.
If you change your job
You must tell the CMS within 7 days or
you could be fined. The CMS can ask you for more details of your new
job. You must tell them:
the name and address of your employer
how much you’ll earn
your place of work
the type of work you'll be doing
your payroll number - you can find this
on your payslip
If you leave your job but don’t
go straight to another one, the deduction from earnings order will
stop temporarily. This is called ‘lapsing’. The order can
start again when you get another job.
If your employer goes out of business
You should talk to an adviser.
If you’ve paid all the arrears
The deduction from earnings order won’t
necessarily stop. It can continue and be adjusted to cover your
ongoing maintenance payments.
If the CMS make regular deductions from
your bank account:
The CMS will have made a ‘regular
deduction order’. This means the CMS can tell your bank or
building society to deduct money from your account at regular
intervals to pay off the arrears.
The CMS can use this order to collect
current maintenance payments, arrears or both. They’ll usually
also add an enforcement fee of £50 to what you owe. In some
situations you won’t have to pay that fee, like if you’ve
changed bank account.
Talk to an adviser if you’re not
sure if you have to pay it.
The CMS can take money from your
account either monthly or weekly. The bank or building society can
charge you up to £10 for each deduction they make.
You must be left with at least 60% of
your net weekly income. Your net income is the money left after
you've paid tax and National Insurance.
If you’re paying the default rate
of maintenance, the deduction won’t be more than £80 per
week. You’ll be on that rate if the CMS didn’t have
enough information to calculate how much you should pay.
There won’t be any deduction if
it would mean your account will have less than:
£40 for a monthly order
£10 for a weekly order
Asking for a review or appeal
You can ask the CMS for a review of a
regular deduction order at any time. You might want to ask for a
review because:
your gross weekly income has dropped -
that’s your income before tax and national insurance have been
deducted
the amount of child maintenance you pay
has changed
You can also appeal to a court against:
a regular deduction order
any decision the CMS make after you’ve
applied for a review of the order
You can find the appeal form and
guidance on how to fill it in on GOV.UK.
Check when a regular deduction order
might stop
It will stop when you pay off all the
arrears.
Your regular deduction order might
‘lapse’. That means it will stop temporarily if the CMS
think it’s reasonable to do that and one of the following
happens:
there’s no money in your account
you’ve agreed to pay another way
if the CMS were making deductions from
a joint account, they’re satisfied you’ve stopped putting
money into that account
If your order has lapsed, the CMS can
start it again if one of the following happens:
you don’t keep to the agreement
to pay another way
there’s now enough money in the
account
you start putting money into the joint
account again
The CMS might decide to end the order -
it’s called ‘discharging the order’. The CMS can
discharge it in one of the following situations:
you’ve paid all the arrears
you’ve closed the bank account
used
the order has lapsed for more than 6
months
you die
If you still owe arrears, the CMS might
take other steps to recover the money - like taking a sum of money
from your account or getting a court order.
If the CMS take a single payment from
your bank or building account:
The CMS will have made a ‘lump
sum deduction order’.
They’ll also add an enforcement
fee of £200 to what you owe. In some situations you won’t
have to pay another fee, like if they’re trying to get more
than one order because you have more than one bank account or have
changed bank account. You’ll only have to pay one fee.
Talk to an adviser if you’re not
sure if you have to pay it.
Before they made the order, the CMS
will have sent you an ‘interim order’ saying how much
they want to take. This is temporary - you’ll have a chance to
get the order changed before it’s made final.
You have 14 days to tell the CMS:
why they shouldn’t make the final
order
about any changes you think should be
made to the interim order
For example, you could say you need the
money for essential items. You’ll need to explain what those
items are - like replacing a washing machine or paying mortgage
arrears.
The CMS will also send a copy of the
interim order to your bank or building society. This means you won’t
be able to use the amount of money set out in the order. You’ll
still be able to use any money over that amount.
The CMS will make a final order after
either:
considering your views
16 days, if you don’t reply
Your bank or building society will then
deduct the money and transfer it to the CMS after 21 days. They can
charge you £55 for making the deduction.
During this 21-day period, you and
anyone affected by the order can appeal to the court.
You can talk to an adviser if you want
to appeal.
If you don’t have enough money in
your account
You won’t get a lump sum
deduction order if you have less than £100 in your account but
the order will stay in place. That means that if you pay any money
into the account in the future, it can be deducted to pay towards the
arrears.
If you have more than £100 in
your account but not enough for the CMS to take the whole amount,
they can take up to £110.
Check when a lump sum deduction order
ends
The CMS will end the lump sum deduction
order if:
you’ve closed the account named
in the order
you’ve paid the arrears in full
there’s never enough money in the
account for them to make a deduction
If you still owe arrears, the CMS might
take other steps to recover the money - like going to court.
If the CMS told you they are getting a
liability order against you:
You’ll get a letter from the CMS
saying:
how much money you owe
you should agree a repayment
arrangement with the CMS
If you don’t reply within 14
days, you’ll get a second letter telling you the CMS might
apply for a liability order in the next 7 days. They will usually
also add an enforcement fee of £300 to what you owe. You won’t
have to pay the fee if the liability order isn’t made.
Talk to an adviser if you’re not
sure if you have to pay it.
The CMS have to go to court to get a
liability order. You’ll be told the time and date of the court
hearing.
You can make a repayment offer and ask
the CMS not to take court action. The offer has to be reasonable.
What’s reasonable will depend on your circumstances. Child
maintenance payments are a priority debt so you should pay them
before paying a credit card debt, for example. You can check what are
priority debts.
Even if you make a repayment offer, the
CMS don’t have to accept it - they might decide to ask for a
liability order anyway.
If you need help working out how much
you can afford to pay, you can use our budgeting tool or talk to an
adviser.
Attending the court hearing
You should call the CMS straight away
- you can find their phone number in your welcome pack or at the top
of any letter from them.
If your income has dropped because of
coronavirus, you should ask them to delay the court hearing.
If they say the court hearing will
still go ahead, it will happen over the phone or by video call -
these are sometimes called ‘remote hearings’.
Check how to prepare for a remote
hearing.
You should go to the hearing. If you
think the CMS haven’t taken into account payments you’ve
made, you’ll need to bring proof you’ve made them.
The court can’t review the
calculation. It can still make a liability order if you challenge the
amount you owe. You could ask the court to adjourn the hearing to
give you time to ask for a review or appeal against the CMS
calculation. The court might agree if you’ve already:
paid off some of the arrears
appealed against the assessment
If the CMS get a liability order
The CMS can take further action to make
you pay off the arrears.
They can ask bailiffs to take your
goods away and sell them.
The CMS can also apply to court to
secure the debt on your home, if you own it - this is called a
‘charging order’. They can then get an order to make you
sell it and will recover the arrears from the sale.
You shouldn’t try to avoid paying
arrears by selling or transferring property. This could be your home,
or it could be other things you own - for example, a car.
The CMS can apply for an order to
cancel the sale or transfer. For example, if you transfer your house
to your new partner so the CMS can’t sell it to clear your
arrears, they can apply to have this transfer cancelled.
If you want to appeal against a
liability order
You can’t appeal against a
liability order but you can ask for it to be ‘set aside’
if you think the CMS have made a mistake.
You can talk to an adviser.
If the CMS use bailiffs
You don’t have to let the
bailiffs into your home. You can read more about stopping bailiffs.
You should negotiate repayment
arrangements direct with the bailiffs. The CMS will tell the bailiffs
not to take further action if you pay off the arrears.
If the CMS get a charging order
Once the CMS have a liability order,
they can register the order as a county court judgment. If they do,
that will make it harder for you to get credit.
Once the CMS have registered the
liability order, they can apply for a charging order. This means your
arrears are a debt which is secured on your home. You can read more
about charging orders.
If the CMS have a charging order and
you still don’t pay all the arrears, they can apply for an
order to sell your home. This is called an ‘order for sale’.
You should talk to an adviser if this
happens.
If the CMS take you to court because
you still owe child maintainance:
You should call the CMS straight away
- you can find their phone number in your welcome pack or at the top
of any letter from them.
If your income has dropped because of
coronavirus, you should ask them to delay the court hearing.
If they say the court hearing will
still go ahead, it will happen over the phone or by video call -
these are sometimes called ‘remote hearings’.
Check how to prepare for a remote
hearing.
If the CMS haven’t been able to
recover the arrears in any other way, they can ask a court to take
your driving licence or passport away. If those steps aren’t
appropriate, they can ask the court to send you to prison unless
you’re under 18.
You’ll get a notice telling you
to attend a court hearing. The notice will set out how much you owe
and the date and time of the hearing.
You must go to the hearing. If you
don’t go, the court could issue a warrant for you to be
arrested.
At the hearing, the court will ask you:
about your financial circumstances
if you've deliberately refused or
neglected to pay maintenance
if you need a driving licence or a
passport for work
If you’re facing this type of
court action, you should talk to an adviser.
If you need to drive or travel abroad
for work
Make sure you take to the hearing:
full details of your financial
situation including reasons why you haven’t paid
proof you need a driving licence - like
a letter from your employer saying you might lose your job if you
can't drive
proof you need a passport - for example
if you’re a lorry driver and travel into Europe
The court will consider all the
circumstances of the case. If they decide you've deliberately not
paid maintenance, they can stop you from having or getting a driving
licence or a passport for up to 2 years.
The court can decide to suspend the
order. That means you’ll get to keep your licence or passport
and won’t be sent to prison. They could do this for example, on
condition you pay a set amount towards the arrears until they're paid
off. If you don’t keep to this arrangement, the order will be
reinstated - so you could then lose your licence or passport or be
sent to prison.
If you’re sent to prison
The court can send you to prison for up
to 6 weeks if it doesn’t think you should be disqualified from
driving or stopped from using your passport. It can only do this if
you're aged 18 or over.
The order to send you to prison can be
suspended, so it might not start immediately.
You’ll still have to pay the
arrears after your prison sentence ends. The CMS can take further
action if your circumstances change - like if you get a job and they
can take money from your wages.
If you want to appeal
You can appeal against the court order
- you'll need to get advice from a solicitor to do this.
If you can pay off the arrears
You can apply to get your driving
licence or passport back or to be released from prison if you pay off
all the amounts in the order. You should tell the court you’ve
paid off the arrears.
If you pay back part of the arrears,
you’ll lose your licence or passport or be imprisoned for a
shorter period. How much shorter will depend on how much you’ve
paid off.
If you're in prison, ask the CMS or the
prison authorities who you should pay off the arrears to.
If the CMS tell you they’re
cancelling the arrears
The CMS can cancel the payments you
owe. This is called ‘writing off the arrears’. It means
you don’t have to pay them anymore.
The CMS might write off arrears if:
the person getting maintenance tells
the CMS they don’t want them to collect the arrears
the person getting maintenance has died
the CMS have told you they’ve
suspended the arrears and won’t take action to recover them
You’ll get a notice from the CMS
if they want to write off arrears. The notice will set out:
the amount of arrears
when the arrears became due
They’ll ask you and the parent
who’s owed maintenance why each of you think the arrears should
or shouldn’t be written off. You’ll have 30 days to
reply. The CMS will take your views into account. You can’t
appeal if they decide not to write off the arrears but you can make a
complaint.
If you have arrears under the Child
Support Agency schemes
You might have arrears under the 1993
or 2003 child maintenance schemes. These schemes used to be managed
by the Child Support Agency. You might not have to pay arrears under
these schemes. If this applies, the CMS will write to you.
If you owe arrears under the 1993 or
2003 child maintenance schemes, you can talk to an adviser.