putting a charge on our house

[daisey22]

my husband has maintenance arrears because he was mis
lead and was paying far too much. as he is disabled the CSA has assessed him for �5 per week which is taken from his benefits. His ex wife is now putting a charge on our house which is in just his name. We have offered a payment of �200 per month to repay the arrears, which she just ignores. She also owes us money but chooses to ignore this part as in the settlement she had to pay him a lump sum but held back �4000. We are at our wits end she has been going on for 3 years now causing my husband who has severe MS to be very ill. Do we get a say in the matter, can we tell a judge we have made numeral offers? we can't afford a solicitor so we can't get advice and because we have a house which is mortgaged we can't get legal aid. Please please help

[anniebird]

I suggest you try Citizens Advice Bureau.

[bednobs]

i dont understand how he can be in arrears if he's paid too much?
Anyway, if you can aford 200 quid per month but she's not accepting it, why not put it in an account every month then you could either give it to her in a lump sum, or when you come to sell, negate the charge with that money.

i cant really understand how he has been asked to pay a measly fiver a week if you can afford 200 pm - a fiver a week wouldnt even feed a cat, let alone feed, clothe and house a child!

[fiesata]

Firstly can I ask where have the arrears of maintenance been calculated, is it by the CSA or has she come to her own conclusions.
A charge on a house (which can mean it has to be sold) can only be granted by a court.which will ask for proof of the debt The CSA will do this as a last resort if all else fails and the Non resident Parent refuses to pay.

How much exactly does your husband owe? Post more details and I'll try to help.

You have been assessed at �5.00 (it is actually �6.00 at present) as this is the 'benefit rate' the CSA apply to many people in receipt if Social Security benefits.

It does not mean it will always be this it can increase if Income does but many benefits are disregarded for a disabled person such as your husband as these are provided to help him meet the extra costs associated with a disability

You will get a say if this reaches court.If the amount isn't too large a personal loan can solve the problem

[daisey22]

to go into more detail, the court set it at �625 per month on advice from his solicitor he thought it would be ok as I worked. Two weeks after the hearing I was in a car crash and as a result I am disabled too. We were told to go to the CSA as they could overide the court judgement, in the time of me having the accident and us finding out about the CSA the debt was run up to around 12k.plus 3500 court fees. We do give what we can to the kids but we also have three kids living here. We are both on benefits and have a company that is going bust as we both cant work and run it properly, we have had no income from it at all. His ex has 2 businesses, 3 houses and she runs the companies with her boyfriend.But i am aware that her finances have nothing to do with it. I know �5 is not a lot but we do put some bits away for the kids, that is the �200 which comes from my benefits as he has debts from the divorce. She just won't accept 200 and wants the 625, she has wrote to the CSA and asked them to vary their decision back to 625. We would gladly give more if there was more. We have tried to talk and make an arrangement, I just want to know if it will go to a court and can they make us and my kids homeless. I would love to go back to work so it will all be ok. We cant get a loan as he has debts and they said we are overstretched. We have even cashed in a pension at a loss to get some money to pay for legal fees.