Child benefit law and Autism

Hi, i was hoping to get some advice if possible. A long story short.......My son has ASD and Asperger's, he lived with his mum until 4 years ago when he came into my full time care. I have a child arrangements order in place and for the most part life has been better. However, his mum recently decided that she now wants him to live with her again!! I advised her to submit a variation of the order to the court and that i would be happy with extended  contact, suffice to this this was rejected and she has now proceeded to claim Child benefit and DLA and carers allowance. I have appealed this and am awaiting the appeals tribunal hearing date. Has anyone else been trhough this?? if so, how is it possible for another person to be awarded these benefits when they are the NRP , are in breach of the current order and now intentionally preventing contact between us??  I would really appreciate any advice, thankyou in advance. 

  • Hi Thank you for responding. Yes i was awarded full time care under the CAP and she had visitation. She has breached the order by refusing to return him home, its been a few months now, the enforcement court  date for the CAP is next month, the problem is she has applied for child benefits and has been awarded it because he is physically with her instead of me if that makes sense. I am appealing the child benefit decision but need help understanding why one law supersedes another and how i can successfully argue it at the tribunal. The effect has been devastating, shes now stopped him from calling and texting me and im going to have to call the police to do a welfare check. Its a real nightmare believe me......

  • Hello and welcome to the forums. I hope someone here may have related experience or be able to point you in the right direction.

    You may want to change your 'NAS3xxxx' username to something more recognisable. You can do this by going up to the round button up the top right of the page, then 'Profile' then 'Edit Profile'.

    Sorry if I'm misreading: you were awarded full-time care, your wife applied for a variation, but there was no change? How is she in breach of the current order? Of course there was a time when child benefit was always paid to the mother – I'm not sure when this changed. What's the effect of the claim on you, and what tribunal are you appealing to? Have you tried the CAB?

    For any passers-by, NRP=non-resident parent, PWC=parent with care, DLA=disability living allowance...