Hi
I'm new so be patient - sorry this is long! On behalf of my husband...
My husband & ex have been divorced 14 years. The court didn't award maintenance on either side. His daughter split time 60:40 with him until she was 13
He was paid child benefit and gave 50% of it to ex. His ex was such a nightmare we moved away to escape late night phone calls, constant hassle. When we moved his daughter went to live with mum and my husband told CB office and payment reverted to his ex ( he still paid the 1/2 he was no longer getting!). Relationship with his daughter became more rocky as mother continued to be unpleasant about her ex. When my husbands daughter was 14 he sat her down and listed all her costs - travel, school lunch, uniform, phone, going out money and agreed to transfer £200 into her own bank account, in addition he paid for internal flights 10 per year at around £90 per time ( we live in Northern Ireland - daughter in England) and agreed to give a clothing allowance of £300 four times per year. All of this was never formalised as his ex refused to meet or discuss. When his daughter reached 16 his ex said the residency order was no longer valid ( it meant nothing anyway as it wasn't being used) and that his daughter would no longer be visiting him as her studies took priority. His daughter has just turned 18 and he hasn't seen or spoken to her in 18 months although he texts each Monday with no response. My husband has stopped paying his ex the £43 CB and slightly increased payment to his daughter. His ex is now contacting re 'maintence' stopping and demanding to talk about 50% of uni costs - where does he stand
Hi There,
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As far as I am aware, when university starts then child benifit and also child maintenance stops, so if your partner is supporting his daughter directly then that should be all he has to do, I may be wrong, but i'm 99% certain that child benifit stops when a child leaves full time college education, so uni wouldn't be included.
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Others will comment soon, and hopefully our child maintenance experts will also answer so keep checking back.
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GTTS
Thank you. I understand CB will stop on sept 1st, but my worry is about her going to court to force payment whilst the child is at uni. His ex is saying accommodation costs are £5700 plus books, plus travel plus food.... The list goes on. All this from the woman that wouldn't allow my husband to do the uni visits as it would be 'unsettling'
Some women make me embarressed to be a woman - she should have married an ATM
Hi There,
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It's great that you know that CB stops on September 1st as that tells you that he is no longer liable to pay through child maintenance, as the two go hand in hand, when CB stops so does CM. He can continue to support his daughter directly but his ex has no claim against him for payments.
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I'm 99% certian that even a court couldn't rule in favour of her as she has no grounds.
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GTTS
If they are resident in Scotland I believe the child could make an application for the payments to continue.
She could try a financial application but I doubt it would get anywhere at all.
My child is going to Uni this year, based on the resident parent's low income, she will receive about £8000.00 as a mixture of loans and grants for living costs and she will also have her £6000.00 per year fees loaned to her on top of that. In addition, if the child comes from a low income family, there are hardship bursaries and funds available for extra costs.
The only exceptions to this are things like some specialist Performing Arts degree courses are not covered by Student Finance and have to be paid for privately or through an award scheme for talented children such as Dance and Drama Awards.
So, with that in mind, your husband shouldn't be obliged to pay anything, nor will her Student Finance be based on his income. He can choose to top up his daughter's finance directly to her if he so wishes.