CSA and working'off shore' earnings

[Spudulika]

My ex-husband always agreed to pay 15% of his earnings to me for my daughter. He paid me 175 a month. In the past couple of years he has started to work on board cruise ships whilst maintaining an entertainments company here. My daughter and I realised that his income and lifestyle showed his earnings were greater than he said, so I went to the CSA. According to the Inland Revenue he is only earning �115 a week, so after paying me �175 and a pension of �100 a month he wouldn't have anything to live on. He now has to pay me only �13 a week!
We know he is still getting income from his business plus the cruise ships and told my daughter he earnt �6K from the last 6 week cruise; he does at least 8 a year. Surely the inland revenue would know this, but would the CSA take these earnings into consideration or is he fiddling the system somehow by working 'off shore'?

[Ice.Maiden]

You can see why fishy said this, Spud!
You don't know for sure that your ex's earning all that he says. It could be for bravado, or to somehow make your daughter feel that her daddy's not a loser.
I'm sure the CSA, for all its faults, know what's what, and unless your daughter attends a private school and so on, the �175 a month wasn't bad to begin with - IF the �115 a week was right.
Bear in mind you could've found another partner who might be supporting you as well, in which case the �175 a month would've been a bonus, yet left your ex with virtually nothing. Sorry, I don't know the details, but sometimes in these cases, the men come out worst. If it's true that your ex earns more than he says, then get the proof and show the CSA. Whoever employs him should have to tell them, so maybe he's exaggerating to you?

[Drisgirl]

Did you post about this before?

Your situ sucks but I can only advise you to take legal advice -and if there is anyway you can think of to shaft him-do it !!

I despise men/women who swerve their responsibilities.Its not like you are looking for money for you -its to raise your children.

Fight fire with fire hun -have to be ruthless.

Good luck and keep us updated xxx

[Spudulika]

The situation is: I did remarry, had a son with my new husband, and we then lost him in a motorbike accident in 2006. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I am now left with a mortgage to pay, and am currently on SSP whilst waiting for surgery for a very painful back condition, desperate to get back to work. All this is situation is through no fault of my own. I am not a money grabber, just want my ex-husband to be responsible for his own daughter as he has his nose into every tiny other bit of mine and my daughters' life. He then makes a huge fuss over how he is now in St Lucia or wherever and taking his new wife for a shopping weekend in New York. If he didn't ram this down my neck, then I wouldn't mind or care what he paid. I can barely afford new shoes for my daughter, let alone a holiday! It's all about him taking financial and not just parental responsibility for my daughter. I also know that his UK company is not registrered and that he gets a sizeable income as an agent for others which he doesn't declare.
Sorry to go on, but I just wanted to clarify that it's not just the money, it's the principle!