The idea
I am proposing the repeal of the paragraph in the CSA legislation which only allows a single claim to be considered for a single child. This would also need the repeal of a great chunk of The Child Support ( Maintainance Calculations and Special Cases) Regulations, in order to remove the determination as to who was to be considered the NRP and the PWC based on Child Benefit, and replacing it with a situation where for a speciifc application the PWC was the claimant and the NRP was the other party where 50/50 shared care existed.
Doing this would discorage both parents from ever approaching the CSA in the first place where 50/50 shared care exists, as the net effect would be that money would go "both ways" cancelling itself out.
Why is it important?
Although on the face of it it would increase the number of claims, it would create an encoragement for parents to both opt out of using the CSA, as the net effect of using the CSA with similar incomes would be negilable.
This would end the unfair situation where someone can be deemed a NRP whilst having 50% shared care, as they would also be able to claim that they were the PWC. Thus "self correcting".
I agree. The 50% shared-care situation in the UK is appallingly unfair on the so-called “non-Resident Parent”. Not just with respect to Child Support, but also, with Child Benefit, and Child tax credit. Only one parent can get those benefits, which is fine in situtations when only one parent really has primary care, but when both parents do, the one who is not deemed the “Parent With Care” by the Child Benefit office gets nothing , and then to really rub it in that they are second-class parents, they have to pay half of what a totally uninvolved parent would pay. If the coin-flip decision from the CB office went the other way, the cash would flow the opposite direction. And this takes absolutely NO account of the amount of income each parent receives. It is totally unfair.
The solution is obvious, and it works well in other countries such as Australia. Why can’t the UK adopt a fairer system?