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Absentee parents owe £71m
18/01/2008
Solicitors in Belfast and Northern Ireland have had to administrate record numbers of separations and divorces in the past year, and as such more maintenance payments for children have been necessary.
However, solicitors may find that parents with custody come for advice on their non-paying partners, after the Child Support Agency (CSA) for Northern Ireland admitted that children in Belfast and the rest of the province are owed £71 million in unpaid benefits.
Some £41 million of that total has been written off as unlikely to ever be paid.
The level of unpaid maintenance has risen by £13 million compared to the previous year, the latest audit shows, although the CSA says that this is due to the increased numbers of divorces that solicitors in Belfast and Northern Ireland are processing.
However, within the CSA, 80 per cent of applications are now handled within 12 weeks, compared with 38 per cent the year before.
Over £18 million in total maintenance was collected by the CSA or agreed with solicitors and paid directly in Northern Ireland.
Another highlight of the audit was that the CSA's Belfast National Helpline answered 90 per cent of the calls it received.
Chief executive of the CSA, Mary Quinn, told members of the public accounts committee that people in Northern Ireland should change their attitude of evading responsibility but she was positive about the report as a whole.
Contact us for legal advice
However, solicitors may find that parents with custody come for advice on their non-paying partners, after the Child Support Agency (CSA) for Northern Ireland admitted that children in Belfast and the rest of the province are owed £71 million in unpaid benefits.
Some £41 million of that total has been written off as unlikely to ever be paid.
The level of unpaid maintenance has risen by £13 million compared to the previous year, the latest audit shows, although the CSA says that this is due to the increased numbers of divorces that solicitors in Belfast and Northern Ireland are processing.
However, within the CSA, 80 per cent of applications are now handled within 12 weeks, compared with 38 per cent the year before.
Over £18 million in total maintenance was collected by the CSA or agreed with solicitors and paid directly in Northern Ireland.
Another highlight of the audit was that the CSA's Belfast National Helpline answered 90 per cent of the calls it received.
Chief executive of the CSA, Mary Quinn, told members of the public accounts committee that people in Northern Ireland should change their attitude of evading responsibility but she was positive about the report as a whole.
Contact us for legal advice
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