Solitude III

[allsorts46]

Tux, I can't believe it's not even 2am yet. I came home from work and went to bed early to catch up on sleep, because I haven't slept properly in two days, and when I woke it was dark, so I assumed I'd slept on into early morning. However after going to sleep and waking up a couple more times over what must be several hours, I finally looked at the

Comments

[anonymous]

I'm afraid you are wrong. You do not have to be on the birth certificate for the CSA to obtain maintenance from you (15% net income for one child whether you feel you can afford it or not) unless you or the mother leaves the country. The mother does have to make the claim to the CSA though however if she choses not for whatever reason, the benefits agencies can reduce a mother's benefits. This makes sense, otherwise you'd have tens of thousands of unmarried fathers refusing to be registered on the birth certificate (men cannot be placed on a birth certificate without giving their permission). A good proportion of the time the CSA is not acting on behalf of the mother: With low to middle income earners it is there for the government (and hence tax payers) to recoup benefits paid.

Not being on the birth certificate doesn't make it that much harder as the CSA can demand a DNA test (billable to you if you're shown to be the father). If you refuse to submit to the test they either:

- Deduct your payment directly through your wage through your employer or your pension if you are retired (I can't imagine this happens a lot :))
- or if you are self-employed take you to court (which could be very expensive as you'd probably end up paying the CSAs legal fees). The court can take away your driving licence (of all things?!) or imprison you if you still refuse to pay. Owed money can be recovered through bailiffs or through usual debt sanctions.

(by father in relation to the CSA I mean 'non-resident parent' - which is usually the father, although it can be mother).

What being on the birth certificate gives you is parental responsibility which is something different. You can obtain this through a family court if you chose to. For the father of the child it is unlikely to be denied unless there are really good reasons.

[allsorts46]

Just repeating what I was told, never actually looked into it myself.

[anonymous]

The main carer is actually no longer required to claim maintenance from the non-resident parent to receive full benefits. Before, he/she had to account for that decision and often being an emotional one (due to abuse etc) they found it too invasive. So now a claim for income support is no longer a joint claim to the CSA. So if she is willing to not demand maintenance in order to avoid any further contact with you, it won't affect her claim.

As far as obtaining parental responsibility forcefully, which I imagine is her motivation for sacrificing maintenance from you, it can be very difficult. First, you have to prove paternity, and it would be near impossible in the UK to get a court to agree to force a DNA test without the main carer's consent, and would involve a lengthy court battle. Secondly, you would also have to prove that you have shown yourself to be an active parent. Typical guideline examples that may help would be attending the birth of your child and financially supporting that child, in other words, fulfilling your parental responsibilities.