Isn't It Wrong ?

[Quoi]

...to suddenly refuse CSA payments that have been paid for 2 years in order to lower your income just to qualify for legal aid.

[boxtops]

Sounds wrong to me.....

[EDDIE51]

No it's not illegal .

[Quoi]

yes, I guessed it wasnt going to be illegal but it shouldnt be allowed. I dont want to add too much detail.

[Zacs-Master]

How are they intending to refuse payment? Cancelling the direct debit?

[EDDIE51]

you can simply refuse CSA payments.
Legal aid in is only available to one 'side' obviously, so if the female gets it the man is stuck.
My daughter got legal aid in a child custody case, if she had not qualified for it we would have had to find £50,000 cash just to prepare a case! that was impossible ! she would have lost the case. We won only due to legal aid!

[Zacs-Master]

I have heard of cases where an account has been set up in the name of the child which the CSA have accepted as making payments in lieu of the parent refusing them.

[Barmaid]

It depends what the legal aid application is for. There have been so many changes over the last few years that legal aid is not available as it used to be.

[Barmaid]

Sorry that was badly phrased. What i meant was the PWC can refuse CSA if he/she wants but it is not guaranteed she will get legal aid.

[Quoi]

I agree barmaid but this is about deliberately now refusing CSA payment to enable qualification for legal aid that is just about to cost my son another load of heartache and money over his child.
Eddie when you are in the right you need to be able to fund your case but when you are on the opposite end of the case its not so good.

[Barmaid]

Your son's partner will only be able to get legal aid if there is evidence of domestic violence or the child is at risk. Legal aid for private family matters is no longer available as it once used to be.

You have my sympathy, Mr BM was at the receiving end of publicly funded lawyers for years until the rules changed.

[Zacs-Master]

So that's how you two met!

[EDDIE51]

I sympathise , men usually get a raw deal in these situations. Your son can only gather as much information as possible to support his case.
Any hearing will be at a family court and these are far more 'friendly and informal ' than normal courts. They actively help people to represent themselves. Further, they now very actively encourage 'proper contact' for fathers as this is considered essential to the child.
It is not all 'one way' tell your son to remain positive and put his side of the case to the best of his ability.

[EDDIE51]

^^ As Bermaid says unless there is evidence of violence towards the child the mother is extremely unlikely to get legal aid.
Barmaid by the way is a fully qualified barrister, so she knows what she is talking about!

[Quoi]

thanks for your replies.
//Your son's partner will only be able to get legal aid if there is evidence of domestic violence or the child is at risk//
There isnt any evidence whatsoever because the whole thing is a farce. See my earlier post about it.
She has got away with 'murder' so far and luckily their relationship is a modern 'text' one and my son has kept every single text.
He was lucky enough to have a picture of his happy son strapped safely into the car on the very day she claimed he was 'screaming as he was thrown into the car'
these claims have kept them apart for almost 2 years - its very wrong.

[EDDIE51]

The family court has seen this all many times before , they will not be fooled by the Mothers lies. Your son should feel confident of a successful outcome.
The overwhelming principle of the family court is to do whatever is in
' The best interests of the child' all else is secondary to that.

[Barmaid]

If you follow the links here it will tell you the type of evidence that is needed for her to be able to get legal aid.

https://www.justice.gov.uk/private-family-matters-legal-aid

Yes, I agree Quoi, it is wrong, very very wrong. I have been on the receiving end of these type of allegations myself so I really do understand your frustration. I just hope that public funding is refused and that your son can use some of the saved CSA on enjoying some time with his child.

As Eddie says, the family courts have seen all this before - the term parental alienation is not liked by the Courts but instead prefer "implacable hostility" - might be worth looking some of that up.

[Quoi]

I know, I know i should be able to trust the court and I keep telling my son to trust the truth but not easy when she is using dirty tactics to drag the case on & my 30 yr old son is sobbing with frustration telling me he can't take it any more.

[EDDIE51]

Please believe me, I have been in a family court to help a relative. They are very fair and will NOT be fooled by the mother. They will go out of their way to help your son. As I said the overwhelming aim is to do what is best for the child, in this case that may well be to hand custody to your son and you!
At the very least your son will get proper access to his child.

[bednobs]

my friend recently had a judgement go against her - she wanted to keep the dad away from his 2 year old because he had been found guilty of ABH on her other older son but the judge awarded visitation etc, so never fear!