| |
|
|
|
New Enforcement Powers for Child Support Agency in a Bid to Collect £3.7bn of Maintenance Arrears
|
 |
According to newly released figures, the total uncollected arrears accumulated over the 17 year lifetime of the Child Support Agency stands at more than £3.78 billion. Figures show that in 2010 £1.14 billion of maintenance was collected or arranged, up slightly from £1.13 billion in the previous year.
The Government recently revised the arrangements at the CSA and set up the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission in a bid to increase the amount of maintenance collected.
However according to the head of family law at leading Derby law firm Flint Bishop, arrears figures still appear unacceptably high and she is looking to the agency’s new enforcement powers to improve the situation for those affected.
She explains:
“The Child Support Agency was set up 17 years ago to try to reduce the number of parents who were not paying proper maintenance for their children and to simplify the process.
“Where separated parents cannot agree arrangements for the payment of child maintenance, it is open to either parent to apply to the Child Support Agency to calculate the maintenance due and if necessary collect the maintenance and enforce payment.
“The CSA has recently increased its use of existing legal processes in order to recover child maintenance payments. These new powers include Deduction Orders, where money is forcibly removed from bank accounts.
“The CSA has other powers to enforce maintenance, including the power to pursue a sale of a property owned by a parent with child maintenance debts. Recent figures also reveal that 700 such properties have been targeted for possible possession and sale in order to pay off their arrears.
“So far, orders for sale of 100 properties have been made, but only a small handful have had to be seized. The CSA also has the power to obtain lump sum orders and regular payment orders and 600 of such orders have been made. Taking into account the level of arrears, which have built up over a 17 year period, the number of orders being pursued seems relatively low.”
According to Flint Bishop's Head of Family Law, if parents are able to agree child maintenance upon separation then this can avoid a lot of the difficulties encountered with the CSA:
“It is possible to include the agreed figures for child maintenance in a financial order upon divorce. It is then open to the parent due to receive the maintenance to enforce payment themselves through the courts, which can often be quicker and more effective than waiting for the CSA to take action.
“The court can still deal with maintenance in higher income cases and make orders for the payment of school fees, which again can be enforced via a parent directly through their solicitor. This is regardless of whether parents were previously married or not.
“There is also the possibility of applying to the court for orders to provide financially for housing for children and capital needs such as university fees, the cost of caring for a child and other major expenditure such as computer, along with other educational or personal costs.
|
| |
|
|
|
