A DAD claims he is being forced to pay child maintenance for a three-year-old son he didn’t even know existed. The 23-year-old man, from Hull, said he has been left financially crippled after forking up cash for a child he’s never met. He was first told about his three-year-old son when the Child Maintenance Service […]
A DAD claims he is being forced to pay child maintenance for a three-year-old son he didn’t even know existed.
The 23-year-old man, from Hull, said he has been left financially crippled after forking up cash for a child he’s never met.
He was first told about his three-year-old son when the Child Maintenance Service demanded a monthly payment of £171.
The dad, who also has a fourth-month-old boy, claims the payments have forced him and his current partner out of their home because they cannot afford rent.
According to Hull Live, the man – who cannot be named for legal reasons – is not on the boy’s birth certificate.
He said he wasn’t told when the boy was born, adding: “I don’t know 100 per cent that he is mine.”
The dad has asked the CMS for a DNA test – which cost £240 on the NHS – but has been told he needs to pay the fee, which he cannot afford.
He told Hull Live: “I pay child maintenance because I don’t have a choice – if I don’t pay it they (the CMS) will take it out of my wages, but I’ve never met my son.
“I wasn’t told he was born, I’m not on the birth certificate, I’ve got no legal rights, I don’t know 100 per cent that he is mine – yet I’ve got to pay.
“My girlfriend was pregnant and had gone on maternity leave so we decided to call it a day living together, she went to her mums and I went to my mums.
I wasn’t told he was born, I’m not on the birth certificate, I’ve got no legal rights, I don’t know 100 per cent that he is mine – yet I’ve got to pay.
The dad, who can't be named for legal reasons
“It sounds crazy, but paying this money has resulted in us losing our house. I now don’t live with my four month old son because of it.”
He stressed that child maintenance is a “good idea” but added the “system is flawed” and “almost ruined” his family.
The man added: “If I want to see him properly I’d have to go through the courts which is a fee of £250 – which I don’t have.
“All this revolves around money. It’s such a c****y situation to be in. It’s just a nightmare really.”
“To be honest if he’s my child then fair enough I can understand me paying for him, however, CMS don’t care about anything other than getting money off you.”
It comes just months after an oil rig worker was ordered to pay £20,000 in child support for a daughter he never knew existed.
Ross Mclaughlan, 55, from Stockton-on-Tees, was shocked when he received a letter from the CMS informing him he was dad to a teenage girl, for whom he was financially responsible.
Ross, who has never married, insists he has no recollection of the woman who claimed to be the mum of his daughter.
He said he’d refused to take a DNA test because he felt it was an infringement of his human rights.
At first he tried to ignore it and worried that kicking up a fuss might land him in trouble with his job, so he paid up the £100 a month sum.
However, four years ago, Ross got a letter from the CMS telling him the amount he had to fork out was increasing to £320 a month, leaving him with an income of £900, after tax.
To make matters worse when his “daughter” turned 21, the organisation claimed he owed a further £10,000 in “retrospective” payments.
A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions said: “When parentage is disputed we look for conclusive proof such as a DNA test, or a court declaration.
“We notify people before making deductions, to ensure they have a chance to contest parentage.”
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