One Parent Family Payment question

I have been recieving O.P.F.P for about 4 years now...
I know who the father is but I told SW I didnt know because at the time I was worried they would contact him for maintenance and I thought if he paid maintenance then he'd have custody & rights to the child...
(we ended our relationship just before I found out I was pregnant & it ended very badly so i didnt tell him I was pregnant...also his job takes him away to other countries for a long time every year or two, all this made me panic and I told the OPFP officer who came to assess me after my child was born that I didnt know who the father was).

The SW officer told me he found that hard to believe and I told him if he didnt believe me that was ok, but that was my story & theres nothing I can do about it.
I didnt think I'd get OPFP after this assessment but a few weeks later it came through and I have been on it ever since.

I didnt think much about my childs father for the first year, because I heard he was gone overseas for his work and would be away for several months and thought how glad I was that he wasnt in our lives.

Then when my child was a year old my little sister passed away and I spent two years suffering from depression...so doing the right thing and contacting the father of my child was put out of my mind...
I am glad to say I am trying to get on with my life now after this tragedy, and this is the reason I am on here...

...the father contacted me a few months ago saying he heard I had had a child after we split up and asked was it his...I said 'no' and hung up....
he is away overseas again at the moment and I cant stop thinking about having to do the right thing by my child and him and introduce them to each other...my child is four now and I am fully aware that it would be beneficial to my child to have him around...I was young and stupid in thinking when I had a baby that he would never be needed...

But I also cant stop worrying that I have committed fraud by saying I didnt know who the father was in the first place and therefore not recieving any maintenance from him...I am stuck as in how to approach this with SW...If I get kicked off OPFP then so be it, I will face the consequences of my actions, but is there prosecution?

I dont want to be judged by anyone here by the way, I have my reasons for doing things this way at the time, so please dont give me any negative comments towards my situation, I am looking for a way to fix this and do the right thing.

Irishgirl said:

But I also cant stop worrying that I have committed fraud

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If you are asking whether or not you have then I believe that the answer is "yes, you have".

You'd be amazed at the percentage of OPFP recipients who "don't know who the father is"!

From my experience, you are making a mountain out of a molehill. You are in receipt of OPFP on the basis that you need the money to rear your child and you are not getting any maintenance from the father which would affect that rate of payment.

If you had named the father at the time of claiming, SW would have asked you to seek maintence from him. If he did not pay it, they would have written to him and asked him to pay maintenance.

You have not committed "fraud" to any great extent other than making a false declaration regarding the father's name. It is perfectly acceptable that you did this because of your situation at the time of birth and even up to now and, believe me, Sw would treat it as such.

You don't get maintenance from him and therefore you are getting your correct OPFP amount. They would never prosecute you for that. My advice to you would be to do nothing unless you sort out something with father and it ends up that he is paying maintenance. Then inform SW that your circumstances have changed adn they can review your entitlements.

Stop worrying!

Thanks for that Clubman, I am totally aware that I have committed fraud

Thankyou Welfarite, I have never broken the law before so it feels like a big deal for me I guess
My main worry is explaining how I suddenly know he is the father after 4 years, should I prepare myself for being asked to pay back years of overpaid OPFP due to unpaid maintenance....will he get landed with a bill to back-pay 4 years of maintenance...if so I would have to pay it as it was not his fault as he didnt know he had a child...

I guess my main question here in the AAM forum was the legal side of SW payments, I need to take my personal worry question elsewhere, Many thanks for your answer, it has put the predicament into perspective for me

Welfarite said:

You have not committed "fraud" to any great extent other than making a false declaration regarding the father's name. It is perfectly acceptable that you did this because of your situation at the time of birth and even up to now and, believe me, Sw would treat it as such.

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Is this true? Is there any written documentation available on SW's policy on rule bending?

Listen, the people who deal with you in SW are human. They will understand why you did what you did. You can own up and say that you knew who it was but that you did not name him because you didn't want him to know about the child as you had broken up. This is the truth and perfectly understandable. As I said, there is no "overpaid" OPFP as there was no maintance paid. They don't assess maintencance so he can't get "landed with a bill" for it. If he starts paying maintenance nwo then your claim will be re-assessed from now.

Ok, I'll just call into them after I contact the father, many thanks for your help

Stop worrying unnecessarily, you were young alone and vulnerable at that time. Make an appointment to speak with a counsellor regarding coming clean with the child's father. At the end of the day, your child has a right to his/her identity but you will need to talk this through with a professional trained person.

I would support the advice being given to you by Welfarite.

As you were in an intimate relationship and it broke up acrimoniously before you were aware you were pregnant, it would be very difficult to then contact your ex boyfriend and advise him he is about to become a father. Your gut instinct may have told you his reaction would be distressing for you. You did what you felt was right at the time and in the circumstances you found yourself in.

The only thing that has changed is your ex boyfriend has now made contact and has enquired about your child. That does not mean he is prepared to support your child and until he does indicate his intentions there is nothing you can do.

Very best wishes to you

Certainly get things sorted out by seeking councelling regarding your personal issues and feelings regarding your childs father. In my opinion it is not necessary to contact social welfare unless your financial position changes and you receive maintenance payment. Don't persecute yourself about decisions you made in an extremely stressful situation. As already stated you are not the first or last person to not name a father of a child to social welfare. Fraud in my opinion would be commited if you were receiving financial support in cash, claiming all your welfare entitlements as a lone parent and co-habitating with your partner!