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Child Maintenance Service (CMS) and bailiffs

The Law: Section 35 of the Child Support Act 1991

Enforcement using bailiffs is a power conferred under a "liability order"

If you were completely unaware that you had a liability order made against you until you received a visit or a document from a bailiff company, then you can revoke the enforcement power conferred, and all the bailiffs fees by making a statutory declaration and laying it at court.

Make a statutory declaration and give it to a Clerk to the Justices at the Magistrates' Court that issued the liability order.

The following template can be completed with your name address and date of bailiff document, then it must be sworn in before a solicitor. You make copies and give the original into court. Send copies to the bailiff company by email.

Note: Some court staff may not be familiar with this procedure and may try to obstruct you giving the sworn declaration into court.

They are not qualified to give legal advice.

A Clerk to the Justices is legally qualified, but if one gets funny with you, then write down their name and leave the court building immediately. Contact me and I will pass it to a solicitor to represent you at court and apply for costs. HM Court Service pays the bill as they are in error.

This only stops the enforcement power, not the child maintenance itself. It does not prevent the CMS applying for new liability order. It does however, gives you more time to sort things out with the CSA in the meantime.

If the Non Resident Parent does not pay the enforcement fees then they are deducted from the sum amount shown on the Liability Order before being paid to the Resident Parent(RP).

Enforcement contractors have 90 days to execute liability orders before handing them back to the CMS

The CMS only use bailiffs as a last resort which means by the time you get bailiffs then all the following must be true.

• You have no regular income; otherwise a Deduction of Earnings Order (DEO) would have been applied

• You have no registered UK land in your name; otherwise the CMS would have applied an Interim Charging Order

• You have no UK bank account with funds in your name otherwise the CMS will order your bank to make over a lump sum

• You are not on benefits otherwise they would be deducted and the CMS knows it is pointless sending bailiffs to an unemployed person because it wastes the bailiff's time chasing dead cases.

The CMS sends bailiffs round to what they think is your current address. If you no longer live there or you do not have sufficient funds or assets then the bailiff will return the case back to the CMS unpaid in 90 days under the terms of their contract.

If the liability amount is wrong, then get your case looked at by an expert but there are strict time limits for appealing a CMS decision. But there are no time limits for correcting a CMS clerical (administration) error. It may be beneficial if you postpone correcting clerical errors until the children have come of age or whenever the CMS chooses to revive the liability.

If you still have arrears accruing then you must stop them now. Sign on Job-seekers Allowance and notify the CMS in writing of your change of circumstances through the online portal and mnake screenshots before and after submitting it.

Collate your CMS paperwork together and speak to an expert at NACSA. Say why you think the assessment is wrong and ask how it can be put right. For a small fee they can prepare your case to be reviewed by the Independent Case Examiner who can order the CMS to comply with regulations and if necessary, order the CMS to pay you compensation and refund overpaid maintenance.

While your case is being reviewed, the CMS should desist enforcement action.

If you are unsuccessful in getting your assessment put right then the debt dies under Section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980. CMS debts are "statutory" debts, i.e., a debt created by a statute.

• Pay off the arrears in small amounts each week- even if it takes years.

• Leave the debt outstanding with the CMS permanently. On your death, the CMS can order your executor to make over a lump sum to them from your estate. This does not apply if your estate is below £15,000 because no Grant of Probate is required for estates below this amount. It is on the application of the Grant with the Probate Registry the DWP becomes aware of a person's death and is told who your executor is. If your estate only consists of assets held in trust for you then your executor will return the demand unpaid advising them your estate is not in funds.

• Sign on benefits and work in the hidden economy (this is NOT legal) and thus, there are no official numbers of those who choose this route.

• Emigrate

If you leave the UK the debt can still follow you if your new country of residence cooperates with the REMO Unit. However, you can challenge the liability all over again if a REMO claim is made. For example, most Roman Catholic nations (the EU and South America) dismiss REMO applications if you have been EXCLUDED from your children, or the children's mother's circumstances as a single parent are self inflicted, or deliberately availed herself to state support.

If you move to a country where Muslim (Sharia Law) is the principle order and you have no UK employer or assets, then it is not possible to claim child maintenance. The debt dies.