Re:CM & SM advice needed when you need to reduce

Hi there,
I wondered if you can help, my partner has been paying an extravagant amount of CM & SM for quite some time now, however he was made redundant early last year, his new role is half of what he was earning and it’s now come to light he’s been adding to his marital debts by putting the CM & SM on the credit cards. He’s in a significant amount of debt and not clearing enough each month to cover his out goings. He has 2 children, both under the age of 10, he agreed to pay £800 each child and £500 to her which is a total of £2,100 a month. At the time of this agreement he’d lost the will to live and didn’t anticipate ever finding happiness again, so the sucker got caught out with an unrealistic amount of money (he didn’t bother with a solicitor to help him), he has paid the full amount for over 3 years but as a result of the recent redundancy and ever increasing debt he just cannot pay that amount anymore. Oh, at the time of the agreement she wasn’t working, however now she’s in full time work.
He has explained his situation to her and she’s threatening to take him back to court, surely if he hasn’t got it, he can’t pay it??? I’ve looked on the CSA website and it seems that should be just under £600 for the two children a month.
Has anyone been in a similar situation or know what we should do, or what she can do, I just wondered where we stand?
Thanks x

The situation is untenable - he needs to take action asap.

Is it Court Ordered?

For CM if its a recent Order, but over 1 year old, he can go straight to CSA to be re-assessed, but will need to go to Court to tackle the SM.

I'm no expert, but I can't see how it can be enforced if he doesn't have the money and also esp. if she has employment (that she didn't have when the order was made)

Hopefully the wiser wikis will give you more practical advice

Take care

WR x

When circumstances change a court order needs to be varied rather than unilaterally deciding to reduce the amount. Until the order is varied your partner is liable for any arrears which may be enforced through the courts like any other debt. When making an order though the court has to take in consideration the ability of a debtor to pay and take into account a basic level of subsistence.

Changing CM is usually relatively easy if the order was made after March 2033 and has been in place for a year. Your partner could apply to the CSA for assessment, the CSA notifies the court and a consent order in relation to CM ceases o have any effect.

The exceptions to this would be when one parent lives abroad, there are step children, over 18s in education or if the order was worded in such a way that a global amount (CM+SM) should be paid minus any payment made through the CSA.

However, your partner would still need to apply to vary SM through the courts.

Hi Fiona,

So we need to go to the CSA and explain the situation and then go to court to request a variation to the court order. Am I safe to assume we can do this ourselves? Is it fairly straight forward?

Thanks very much x

Does anyone know the form number for a variation on the court order? I've spent an hour on the phone to both the CSA and the local courts and I'm getting no where.

Thanks x

Doh.. that should be 2003 of course, not 2033 in my last post.



Your partner needs Form A to apply for a financial order to vary which is available to download here;


http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/court s/procedure-rules/family/formspage.htm

For the CSA he should fill in the usual application and tick the appropriate box that there is a court order. The CSA carries out an assessment and then they notify the court (Form 601, I think). After 2 or 3 months the child maintenance agreement in the consent order ceases to have any effect.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Fiona - much appreciated x