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Hi there,
I wondered if you could give me some advice.
When my wife decided she wanted to move out, I remortgaged the house and brought her a place in her name so that she could live rent/mortgage free in her own home as this also equated to 2/3 equity in the current house. I give her 800 a month to cover the 3 children as well, am I being taken for a ride as she certainly does not seem to be spending a great deal on the children.
I still buy them some clothes and shoes although she buys the majority of their clothing and shoes, and still pay half of any expenses like school trips where they maybe over £50, they stay with me 140 nights a year ie 3-4 weeks holidays every other weekend and every wednesday night.
I looked at the calculator on line and it does roughly agree with the figure but not sure if it takes into consideration that I brought her a house etc?
Cheers
Hi
Realistically, the fact that you bought your ex a house for 2/3rd the equity is quite possibly what a divorce court would have gone for anyway - they would certainly expect you to have provided a roof for the children, and this would have no bearing on future maintenance payments.
The fact that you say the CSA calculator more or less agrees with what you are currently paying means that there is little point in trying to reduce your payments - the CSA are not concerned with the house, and as long as you have entered the relevant number of nights staying etc into the calculator, then you are about right - basically 20% of your takehome pay, reduced by 2/7ths due to the overnight stays.
The only thing you don't have to pay is anything on top of this - eg school trips etc, as the maintenance should cover all of this, but if you don't pay, would this mean that they don't go? If so, you are leaving yourself in the position where your ex will tell the kids that they aren't going because you won't pay - only you can tell whether she would do this or not.
thanks for that, I agree and Im quite happy with the arrangement just wanted to sanity check thats all I guess
Hi Stuartrogers
I'm William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. It sounds like you and your wife have both made a good start in arranging a family-based arrangement.
Family-based arrangements enable you and your wife to decide between yourselves, what your children need and who will provide it. It can be a combination of financial assistance and contributing towards things like clothes, uniforms and children's clubs etc. A big advantage to a family-based arrangement is that it keeps you both focussed on the needs of your children.
Family-based arrangements are not legally binding, however they give you the flexibility to change your arrangement at anytime and as your children get older and their needs change. If you are not happy with the amount you are paying you may wish to discuss this with your wife and renegotiate your arrangement. We often suggest it is a good place to start negotiating your family-based arrangement, by using the Child Support Agency (CSA) maintenance calculator. You would only be required to pay the amount they calculate, anything that you pay extra for, for example paying for other things would be paid at your own discretion. The CSA would not take into account that you have bought your wife a house.
If you went to use the CSA service they have two schemes, Direct Pay and Collect and Pay. Direct Pay is when the CSA calculate maintenance payments on parent's behalf and then leave it up to the parents to make the payments between themselves. Collect and Pay is when they calculate, collect and enforce payments on a parent's behalf. If you decide to use the statutory maintenance service in the future, your responsibility to pay will start from around the point you are contacted by the CSA.
If you feel this would not work for you, you may wish to consider a Consent Order, which is an official ruling made by a court. To arrange a Consent Order, both parents need to agree how much child maintenance will be paid and how often before going to court. Legal fees may apply with this option.
To help you both renegotiate your family-based arrangement, we have produced useful tools such as a discussion guide, family-based arrangement form, which you will find on our website at www.cmoptions.org. If you would prefer a friendly and confidential chat, please give the team a call on 0800 988 0988.
- Samaritans – call 116 123
- Shout – text the word ‘Shout’ to 85258
