Movingrightalong

Hello the forum,

I am a UK citizen moving to the US (California) on an L1A visa. My son will be staying in the UK with my ex. I will continue paying child maintenance but would like to pay a portion of it directly to my son, a portion to a savings for when he comes of age and a portion to my ex for my son's expenses.

A bit of context - my ex has made it clear that she uses the maintenance to fund vacations with her and her new husband and I want the funds to benefit my son. It probably goes without saying that my ex will not be happy about this.

I spoke to the child support agency and they say that once I leave the country, they will no longer be involved and it is up to my ex and I to come to an arrangement.

Does anyone know if she can force me to pay the entire amount directly to her?

Thanks for your help and advice.

fatbrit

Orders in place are enforcible through a reciprocal agreement between US and UK. Your Google search term is: REMO.

If you want the particulars of the order changed, you will need to petition that court.

Movingrightalong

Thanks for the info.

Do you know if REMO is based on the court order or on the CSA order? In my case they are very different.

NatashaB

Your ex would need to get a court order before REMO can be enforced. The CSA will no longer be applicable once you move out the country. Once it's enforced via REMO, you don't have any say where it goes.

It's not really clear whether you're currently paying based on a court order or just through CSA?

fatbrit

As Natasha said....court.

Movingrightalong

I'm currently paying through CSA. There is a court order in place, but it is for considerably less than I've been paying, so it looks like I might have room to negotiate with my ex.

Thanks for the info.