child maintenance
 

so i currently pay my ex-wife child maintenance for our child who turns 16 in april, i also put some money into his account so he can spent it on whatever he wants/needs, as i believe it i can stop paying her maintenance when he turns 16 unless he remains in full time education, he currently has no plans to stay in education and is wanting to leave school and get a job, so when he turns 16 in april can i stop paying her or do i need to wait until the end of the school term?

just for the record. the money that i currently pay her will be paid into my sons account when i do eventually stop paying her

From my understanding of talking to my mate in the UK kids have to stay in full time education until they are 18 now, last time I visited and was staying at my mates place someone knocked on the door to check his 17yr old daughter who had left school at 16 was still in some form of full time education. They wanted proof she was attending college.

I thought this was the case too - don't think kids can leave at 16 anymore?

Depends on where you live.
Everyone can leave school at 16, but in England you need to do something until you're 18, be it further education, or an apprenticeship etc.
In Northern Ireland, it depends on when you turn 16 as to where you can leave, or where you must wait until the end of the following school year.
I think Scotland does something similar
The Welsh don't care, once you're 16, away you go

England

You can leave school on the last Friday in June if you’ll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays.

You must then do one of the following until you’re 18:

• stay in full-time education, for example at a college
• start an apprenticeship or traineeship
• spend 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training

So basically, in England, you can't leave school and go directly into full time work with no training?
No wonder we have such a shortage of unskilled workers!

As i understand it you pay until the child is 19 in england

You pay maintenance while the child is in full time education until the age of 20

The authorities only intervene when the two parents fail to work out a deal between them, and any parent who doesn't want to provide for their child is simply a dirty b@stard

Fair enough, the bitter woman