Back to School Allowance & irregular maintenance

I am looking to apply for Back to School Allowance, I note on the form that it asks for details of maintenance to include a copy of the court order, if there is one.

However my problem is that the child maintenance payments I am meant to receive have been irregular, might not get them for 3 or 4 weeks at a time and then will receive 1 week and again the same cycle starts again.

If I include the maintenance on the application for Back to School Allowance then I am €10 euro over to qualify, however given that I am actually not receiving it weekly I'm not sure how to deal with it. Any advice on best way to deal with it, if I include a cover letter explaining it will it suffice or will they come back asking me to follow up on the maintenance order (I cannot afford to go back to courts), any thoughts, thanks.

Does it ask what you get weekly/monthly?

Average out what you have recieved in the last 6/12 months. That will put you under the limit.

Why can you not afford to go back to court? Are you talking about the money side or time side of things? It costs nothing to make an application in your local court office which is free to do. And you dont need to have a solicitor, you can just go in by yourself.

samanthajane said:

Does it ask what you get weekly/monthly?

Average out what you have recieved in the last 6/12 months. That will put you under the limit.

Why can you not afford to go back to court? Are you talking about the money side or time side of things? It costs nothing to make an application in your local court office which is free to do. And you dont need to have a solicitor, you can just go in by yourself.

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Thanks for the reply, cannot afford a solicitor anymore, have applied for arrears twice in the last year on both occasions he pays arrears or most of it and commits to paying going forward but it doesn't happen, haven't the energy to keep fighting him for it either.

Will average it out weekly thats a good idea because they ask for weekly income, thanks.

Dont let him get the upper hand, your entitled to that money.

Since he has a history of not paying on time you can also apply for your maintanance to be taken out of his wages each week. That week your'll get it every week without any hassel. I went ahead with this once but just the thought of him knowing that his employer and the payroll staff would know that it had been done was enough to make sure he payed on time from then on.

Dont give up!