Maintenance payments when education stopped?

[Syzgoss]

Greetings,

I’m at the end of my tether with this one….

ive been paying child maintenance to my ex as per the agreed amount with the CMS until the end of Aug this year, after my son left school in the summer.
he was 16 in March.
now I was under the impression from everything I’ve read online that once he had ceased full time education, I was no longer required to pay maintenance?

he isn’t at college or doing any education as it is. He’s looking for an apprenticeship but is currently doing nothing.
Ive told this to the CMS but they’re not taking any notice and am now setting up a collect and pay through my work for a sum of money considerably larger than I was paying, including arrears to the tune of over a thousand pounds more than I should’ve paid if I had continued since the end of August

I’m  so confused!
I see my son every week and give him money directly so it’s not like I’m doing this to not pay, it’s just his mum has a tendency to leave him with his older sister and use the money to go abroad, like she is at this very moment, visiting France for the week.
so my basic query is what am I missing?

my son isn’t in full time education so why are the CMS hounding me for payments?

any light shed on this would be fantastic…. I’ve asked them directly but they’re useless and talk to me like I’m some kind of terrorist or something. It’s so annoying and terribly frustrating.

[Syzgoss]

Okaaaaay…. thanks for the response, although it would seem you didn’t actually read my message.
firstly, I stated in my original post that I had told CMS that my son wasn’t in education, but thanks for asking….

secondly, I also stated that I give money to my son directly, so I’m not expecting my ex to rely solely on the benefits she claims… and as for leaving him in a warm home and fed, you’re correct, because I regularly have to provide money for heating oil and food as she leaves my daughter and son with nothing when she’s travelling abroad.
I appreciate your assumption that I’m just another dad trying to avoid paying…. I am, in fact, working two jobs to clear the debt I was deemed responsible for in the divorce while she walked away with all the equity in the family home we sold, and have always paid what the CMS has told me to.
they made the ruling that I shouldn’t have to after my son left education, not me…. only for some reason, they’re not honouring that, hence my original question.

[Kath]

I don’t understand either. I have googled and what your saying is right. There seems to be no reason for you carry on paying CM for your son?

I would get your MP to help you with this. I wish I had more experience with this so I could help you but I don’t.

Good luck with it.

[Author]

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