Re1200 - Maintenance payments: Child Support Agency: Child Support Agency Assessments
The courts lose their powers to make, vary or revive a court
order in relation to a child or his or her absent parent from the
date when a Child Support Officer would have power to make a CSA
assessment in respect of that child or absent parent had the person
with care of that child chosen to apply for one.
The court can still however revoke an earlier order or make a
court order in the same terms as an existing legal agreement for
maintenance payments.
The courts remain the only authority who can order
maintenance to be paid by a taxpayer for his or her
step-child.
In practice, the CSA will usually only make an assessment
where a court order is in existence if
- Income Support
- an income based Job Seekers Allowance
- Family Credit or
- Disability Working Allowance
is being paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to a person with care of the child.
Statutory instrument si92/2645
Where a CSA assessment has been made in respect of a child it
will take effect two days after it is made. And from that
date the court order will become ineffective so far as periodic
payments to or for the relevant child(ren) are concerned, until
such time as the CSA assessment itself comes to an end.
- Where a CSA assessment is made in respect of a child for whom a court order is already in force
- obtain a copy of the CSA assessment
- ask the taxpayer whether payments under the existing court order have ceased and if so from what date
- if obligations under the CSA assessment and court order remain in force and payments continue to be made under both of them, deal with the two obligations separately. This can occur, for example, when the court orders maintenance for the separated or former husband/wife of the payer and the CSA assessment requires payments for the child of the payer.
If
- payments are made under a CSA assessment and
- that obligation is later found to be invalid (for example because it was made after the 'absent parent' ceased to be habitually resident in the UK), and
- a claim is made that the payments made should be regarded as made under an earlier court order which was thought to have lapsed when the assessment was made
submit the case to PAYE & NIC Group for advice, see Re1100.
- If you have difficulties in working out whether payments have been made under a court order or a CSA assessment because there have been changes in the legal obligation under which the payments are due, submit the case for advice, Re1100.
