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Taking a stand

02 August 2007 / Danielle Messenger
Issue: 7284 / Categories: Features , Family
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Unusual family circumstances require flexible enforcement policies, says Danielle Messenger

On 25 June 2007 Michael Cox, father of five, was sentenced to 42 days’ imprisonment for non-payment of child maintenance through the Child Support Agency (CSA), with arrears of £43,000 (unreported). Earlier in the year he received a suspended sentence to be triggered if he failed to make maintenance payments.

INFLEXIBILITY

This case demonstrates the inflexibility of the regulations in the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000. There is no mechanism for the CSA to deal with shared care arrangements. In each case the CSA needs to label one parent as the “parent with care” and the other the “non-resident parent”. The CSA regulations state that “if care is shared equally, the non-resident parent is the one who is not getting child benefit”. This means that a non-resident parent sharing care of the children loses out repeatedly. They will have identical costs in providing a home for the children, but will not receive any financial assistance from the state and will also

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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