Child Maintenance - Do You Understand Offset?
The Child Maintenance Service operates and is subject to complicated and unwieldy legislation which to the lay person may be baffling. Some may say purposely so. As such the public and professionals alike can be left in the dark about some of the options available to parents making child maintenance payments.
During a relationship financial difficulties may arise which can lead to the need for loans or credit cards, but what happens when that relationship breaks down and the repayments are still to be made? Of course just because a relationship has broken down doesn’t mean the repayments can stop but it is a sad fact that this can be left to just one person despite 50% of the liability still being attributed to a former partner.
To make matters worse, whilst one party may still be making all of the repayments they can also be contacted by the Child Maintenance Service for payments of child maintenance to their former partner and parent of their child. The same person who in fact owes them money. This could be financially crippling, but help may be available.
The Child Maintenance Service have the ability upon application to them to set off the debt repayments against any maintenance liability thereby making the financial consequences of separation more manageable.
This offset has the potential to be used for any form of formal loan agreement where money has been left outstanding by a former partner and parent of their child who then subsequently makes a claim for Child Maintenance, whether current or historical.