The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission has begun using tough new powers to halt or reverse the sale and transfer of assets by parents attempting to dodge financial responsibility for their children.
In the first case of its kind, a father in the northwest of England has been prevented from selling a house he was advertising on a popular property website. The man, owes over £78,000 in unpaid maintenance. He has paid nothing to his former partner for almost twelve years while failing to respond to letters or phone calls from the Child Support Agency – now part of the Commission.
The Commission applied for a ‘freezing order’ after the man put his house on the market, raising fears he would try to put the proceeds beyond the Agency’s reach.
In the first case to be brought under powers introduced by the latest child maintenance legislation, the High Court has now imposed an order preventing the sale. The reforms also allow the courts to reverse the sale or transfer of property by parents who have unpaid maintenance arrears. These ‘setting aside’ orders are designed to stop parents putting valuable assets in the names of new partners and relatives in order to evade both the CSA and their duty to provide for their children.
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ABOUT TIME TOO….
WELL DONE ! CMEC
I didn’t think I’d ever see the CSA actually taking action against someone who was going out of their way to dodge them, they usually just go for the quick wins and chase after parents who are already paying through PAYE.