CSA vs Court Order?

I have posted before regarding CSA etc, my ex at moment has gone back to being amicable again and currently I am ok with what I pay her....

I just was wondering if there anyway to make this stick as on this website:

http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/legalhelp/leaflet03.jsp?section=6 &lang=en

It clearly says:

If you already have a court order for maintenance, the CSA will be able to make an assessment only if:

the court stops the order for maintenance ('discharges the order'); or
the parent with care starts to claim welfare benefits.

If this is the case, where could I get a court order and how sorted to agree what I pay now, then the CSA can't try to get me later on for more... I am in process still of getting divorce so perhaps I could add this in? I don't want to go through next 14 years over a barrel and living in fear of CSA and taking me for a lot more money which I can't afford with the massive mortgage I have now due the split!

May I add I do pay around 15% of my wages and look after kids 3 whole days a week so my wife can work, but as I don't look after them nights it doesn't count which stinks!

Thanks

I'm afraid that I think this only applies to court orders made before the CSA started operations about fifteen years ago. I don't think you can have a court order instead, though you can have an agreement outside court.

Sadie

Courts don't usually have have jurisdiction over child support any more, exceptions being for step children, NRP living abroad and maintenance for over 18s. It's possible to agree child maintenance and incorporate it into a consent order but after a year it can be referred to the CSA.

The article is referring to those old cases that had orders in place prior to March 2003 when the current system was introduced.

Hi,

I was receiving maintenance from my ex through a court order. When the 12 month deadline was up, my ex presumed that he could simply halve the maintenance as the order no longer applied but this was not the case!

I received legal advice from three sources (the court and CSA included) and he was in fact in breach of the court order! The NRP must continue to pay the full amount of maintenance agreed for 2 months and 2 days after the 12 month deadline, as the CSA will not allow you to set up a case during this time.

Most interesting I thought - and so I paid £35 to the court and took him for my outstanding two months maintenance

Yes, that's correct. Many people assume that after 12 months a child maintenance agreement included in a consent order is in invalid but that is incorrect.

What actually happens is after one year either party may apply to the CSA, the CSA notify the courts and two months after receiving the application the consent order ceases to have any effect with regard to CM. Until such time there is a liability to pay CM under the order and any arrears can be enforced like any other debt.

Thank you.
Would you happen to know anything about the reverse please? I took out the CSA case when my ex decided to breach the order. The case is only just started this month but I used to receive £100 per month more through court. I am finding it a struggle on the new lower amount. This is because there is a child living in the house with my ex plus the lower figure that the CSA came up with compared to the court order.
I am thinking of cancelling the CSA case and going for the contact order which in theory then should still be valid. I wonder though that if I do this and my ex overrides the court order by his choosing to go back to the CSA, whether I then lose control of the case which I have at the moment. Does that make sense? I do not know whether I would be better off by changing to the court again, as I have heard thatthe courts ­base­ the figure on the CSA anyway. £100 is a lot of money to lose each month

If the CSA have carried out an assessment the courts should have been notified and the consent order in respect of CM will no longer be in effect.

Unless one parent lives abroad, there are step children or children over 18 in education the courts have no powers to impose an order for CM or a variation. A CM agreement can be included in a consent order but a judge cannot impose a decision.