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Hi all,
I recently moved 450 miles away from my ex who has my daughter living with her. I am trying to agree payments with the ex that also allow me to afford to travel to see my daughter for at least one weekend a month and also to collect her for every half term and half of the other school holidays. I've made her the best offer I can that allows this travel (mostly by plane as it is cheaper than driving and the return trips are easier than an 8 hour car drive for a 5 year old) but, of course she wants more and is threatening to go to the CSA which i fear will prevent me from travelling at all.
I understand that the CSA will make an allowance for travel after the basic calculation but when I called them they couldn't give me an idea and simply said it was worked out on a case by case basis. The return flights for me cost about £120 including petrol to the airport and parking. If i drive the round trip is almost exactly 900 miles.
Can anyone give me even a rough idea of what the deduction MIGHT be?
I'm trying to get a balance between paying my way and seeing my daughter as regularly as I can. If I can afford to travel and see her/bring her back to mine at the agreed times it will work out that I'll have her for effectively 2 nights a week throughout the year which I understand will trigger a further deduction but it's the travel costs that are my biggest concern and the fear that the ex will effectively price me out of time with my daughter which is what I believe she is trying to do. I am also willing to have my daughter with me for more of the time if she would agree to it.
Thanks in advance.
It's not going to be a massive deduction I'm afraid - the CSA expect you to pay the first £15 per week, or £780 per year.
Your air fare etc is £1440 per year, so the CSA will make an allowance of the different, which is £660 per year, or £55 per month. However, this doesn't mean that you knock this off what you pay - you simply deduct the £55 per month off your takehome pay before you calculate your maintenance, or in other words, it will reduce your maintenance by 15% of £55 - ie £8.25 per month. Sorry it's not better news. If you drive, I think they will only take petrol costs into account, which would almost certainly be greater than your flight cost. Make sure that you keep all receipts for your flight etc so you can justify the claim - if the CSA don't accept it straight away, then I think it is covered by a variation.
Much as it may be a difficult step to take, it may be worth considering reducing the number of times you see your daughter per year, but to see her for longer each time, so instead of one weekend a month, maybe a full week every 2 months - that way you halve your travel costs, but get more overall time with her (make up the difference with skype perhaps) - it certainly is another option to consider.
Hi - many thanks for the reply.
I feared it wouldn't be the best news. I already have the holidays in place but it looks like I'll have to sacrifice the weekends that were agreed. Skype would have been an option if she let my daughter come to the PC but i needn't bore you with the details...I'm sure it's a very familiar story on here.
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