I divorced my ex 5 years ago. Back then my child was still a toddler so I had a family-based agreement with her that I would pay £1,500 per month for child maintenance. Legally by gov.uk Child Maintenance calculation, I would legally need to pay only £1,000, but I have no issue to pay more than legally required.
But in the agreement, I also agreed to rent an accommodation for the convenience of my child to go to school (or instead of rent I agreed to buy a property for my child - but I have no mean to do so anyway). To date, I only paid for the full rent for my ex and my child to live. My ex paid for her own utilities and council tax. My ex and I share custody of the child with no issue - usually the child is with me over the weekend. Both of us live in London.
Now my child is growing up enough for my ex to go work. She has a college degree and in her early 40s so she is capable of working. There is no agreement in place re spouse maintenance, but I did give her some cash and asset when splitting up. I am thinking of breaking the agreement to rent an accommodation to let her pay in full by herself. She has at least the £500 extra anyway from my legal child maintenance obligation.
Before I go down this path, I wonder if anyone has any suggestion or similar experience. Your advice would be very much appreciated.
Hi,
You could tell ex that your struggling with cost of living and can no longer afford to pay for property. Perhaps she can apply for council housing.