Temporary Care Changes

The Child Maintenance Service only changes shared care if the change is considered established.  This does not mean forever but for the longer term.

Around the 23rd March 2020, the CMS began classifying shared care changes due to Coronavirus as temporary.  This has meant that whilst some parents are accepting of that, some parents are using Coronavirus as an excuse to stop shared cares changes being processed, or to alter existing patterns of shared care.  

For example "You cant have the children for the next few weeks because you work in a hospital"

This would be a temporary change, but the receiving parent might be using the change to say its permanent, and hence get more money.  A paying parent would be in right to challenge this as it is a temporary arrangement and should not affect care.

The trouble is that many are unsure of the rules on what exactly is a temporary change.

So I thought I would write to the CMS and establish, what defines temporary, and what doesnt.  This is their comment.

DWP Response

"We have some information in relation to your request.

You asked for the definition we have of temporary or permanent. We hold no information on this although we may consider a period of around 12 weeks. However, you asked this with regard to where a shared care arrangement had changed temporarily due to Covid19. Should a paying parent advise they had  temporarily changed the arrangement, we would treat this as temporary hence the change would not be reflected on the assessment. Similarly, should a parent advise the change is permanent, we would look to treat this as a permanent change and seek the view of the other parent ahead of reflecting the permanent change to the assessment."

So there you have it.  If a change to shared care has been refused on the basis of a temporary arrangement, you need to ring them 12 weeks later and ask for it to be applied to your case, as the change they have determined as temporary, is actually permanent.  That is assuming you have not done a mandatory reconsideration in the meantime.

Tax Dodger And Benefit Fraudster?

The Child Maintenance Service calculates a paying parents child support payment schedule using their income data from HMRC, and uses official information as much as possible.  This means that the income is historic, ie normally from the last previous full tax year, or the tax year prior to that.  This generally means that when a case is opened, CMS can use tax income data to make an assessment, meaning the paying parent does not have to provide proof of income.  

Taxable Income data is provided by HMRC.  Benefit data is provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).  This is provided automatically by those departments.

However there are some parents that still operate on a "cash in hand" basis in order to avoid paying taxes to HMRC.  This means that the government does not receive money to pay for vital services such as the NHS, Schools or the Armed Forces.  It also means that a parent is denied child maintenance and potentially a child suffers.  If someone is not declaring their income, HMRC are the body that this should be reported to, not CMS.  

Other parents may claim benefits whilst working in order to reduce CMS liability.  If they are working, but claiming benefits, DWP are the agency to contact.  

Al Capone the American untouchable gangster was not jailed for the extortion, or the smuggling or the murders that he was responsible for.  He was jailed for tax evasion.  

In the UK It's rare to be prosecuted or sent to prison for tax evasion, which is good for the receiving parent as the paying parent does not have to pay a penny whilst in prison!  

However HMRC are not a soft touch, and can take further enforcement action if someone fails to pay their taxes, or fails to make an agreement with them to pay it. 

HMRC will try other options, such as taking possessions, including vehicles, to sell at auction (called 'distraint').  This also means that once it is established there is a tax liability due to income, the CMS are able to obtain that figure and calculate maintenance.  In turn the CMS will also be able to take enforcement action.

You should never make a false report to an agency, as the penalties could be severe and it could be construed as harassment.  However if you know someone is trying to avoid their child support obligation or child maintenance by an illegal method, you can report as follows.

Report to HMRC that someone is avoiding tax

Are they doing jobs cash in hand?  Not declaring income

Report via this website:  Report-an-unregistered-trader-or-business

Report to HMRC that an employer is paying a parent cash in hand

An employer paying cash is not breaking the law, provided the person receiving, receives a payslip and the tax and NI are paid.  However some employers will pay cash in hand, to avoid paying employers National Insurance and forwarding the taxes.  It also means they dont have to provide a pension or paid holidays if the employee doesnt exist.

This is a clear breach of law, paying cash to avoid employer National Insurance, rips off the rest of us, that have to pay National Insurance.

More details can be found at

The HMRC Fraud Line Here.

Contact the HMRC Fraud hotline free on 0800 788 887

Report to a Local Authority

By virtue of claiming to be unemployed, some parents will therefore claim benefits from the local authority.  This sadly can mean that the CMS will accept that someone is not working as they are claiming benefits such as housing benefit.  This should be reported to your local council.  If the council are paying a landlord direct, that will mean that the payments will stop, and the parent may have to pay any arrears direct to the landlord or be evicted.

Report Benefit Fraud

If someone is claiming to not work, but also claiming universal credit you can report that to the DWP via the National Benefit Fraud Hotline

Contact: 0800 854 440

Textphone: 0800 328 0512

Or write to them at: 
National Benefit Fraud Hotline
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 2BP

If a paying parent cannot account for their earnings, they may be earning money through criminal activity.  You can also try asking the CMS to raise a Criminal Activity Report internally.  

If you are a paying parent, and the issue involves child benefit, please see the post at https://childmaintenancehelp.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-to-report-child-benefit-fraud.html

#ChildMaintenance

#ChildSupport

#TaxEvasion

#HMRC

#DWP

#BenefitFraud

#CashInHand

#ChildWelfare

#Parenting

#FamilyLaw

#FinancialResponsibility

#LegalAdvice

#SocialServices

#ChildRights

#ChildSupportEnforcement

Shared Care and the Covid19 Pandemic

My recent contact with the Child Maintenance Service, and also contact with other parents, has made it clear that no one really knows what the policy is on shared care, and more importantly, what defines a temporary or permanent change, and how it was determined that it was due to Coronavirus known as Covid19.

  
So I thought I would try to get an answer from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

I made a Freedom of Information request to the DWP on 23 July 2020, and I received a response dated 7 August.  I wanted to find out what guidance had been issued concerning Covid 19 and shared care.

DWP Response

"No procedures specifically relating to the calculation of shared care occurred as a result of Covid19.  However in supporting the Department for Work and Pensions during the pandemic, the actioning of circumstances relating to children were restricted to death of a child and adoption.  Other change of circumstances reported would be actioned once we were able to return to full service, should it be reported that this was a permanent change.  Where the change was temporary, due to Covid 19, case workers were provided with the following Line to Take to customer enquiries:

If your shared care arrangements have changed temporarily due Coronavirus we would not be able to make any changes to the amount of child maintenance you pay.  This is because this change in care is temporary.

If this change in care arrangements continues into a longer-term arrangement, please tell us.

Similarly, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Summary advised:

If the change to a shared care arrangement is temporarily changed because of the Coronavirus or lockdown, then this should not be accepted.  If the change is not a result of the Coronavirus, then business as usual processs should be followed."

The DWP response then defined Shared care.

"Shared care is based on the number of nights for which the non-resident parent is expected to have overnight care during the 12 months beginning with the effective date of the maintenance calculation."

Thoughts

There is no indication on a policy that defines temporary.  So as any parent could be concerned, that could be 5 days or 5 years.  Parents are being left to the mercy of whoever makes the decision.  It is clear that two different case workers could make opposite decisions, based on the same evidence.

In order to clarify I am going back to the DWP to obtain their definition of temporary, because the dictionary definition of temporary is "lasting for a limited period of time".

Further Reading

Child Maintenance A Guide for Parents