[Solved] Noob question probably answered many times before

Hi There,

If you use the online calculator it is pretty accurite.

your partners income doesn't come into calculations as it's your wage that it is all worked out on, the same way your ex's new partners wage doesn't come into it.

You will get reductions for living with your new partners child and also if you have your children stay more than 52 nights a year.

GTTS

Hi bradleybasford

Thank you for your post, I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. With you having a family-based arrangement in place, you may wish to try to discuss and negotiate your arrangement with your ex-partner without involving the Child Support Agency (CSA). Family-based arrangements are not legally binding, however, can be quick and flexible to change if either you or your ex-partner's circumstances change over time. With a family-based arrangement there are no strict formulas or rules to stick to, as you and your ex-partner can decide the terms of your agreement. Family-based arrangements do not just have to be about money, you and your ex-partner could arrange that you buy clothes for your children, which you have mentioned you currently do.

With a statutory child maintenance arrangement, you would have to pay the amount calculated by the Child Maintenance Service. You can of course buy specific things for your children, but they will need to be in addition to your regular payments, they would not count towards your statutory child maintenance payments. The receiving parent is responsible for deciding how to spend the child maintenance you pay, so if you are worried about this, try your best to sort out child maintenance between yourselves.

We have useful tools and guides available on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org, that may help keep your family-based arrangement on track.

If you would like an idea how much child maintenance you may be asked to pay if an application were made via the Child Maintenance Service, you can use our online calculator, which you have mentioned you have had a look at. This is on our website at www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator. The amount of maintenance that may be payable is reduced by various factors that are taken in to consideration when calculating maintenance payments. Such as the number of nights you have your children and your partner's daughter that you are living with.

The Child Maintenance Service works out child maintenance using the paying parent's gross income, which is income before Income Tax and National Insurance are taken off, but after occupational or personal pension scheme contributions are taken away. In most cases this gross income figure comes from information given to HM Revenue & Customs by the paying parent, their employer or a third-party such as an accountant.

If you feel that you can not renegotiate your family-based arrangement with your ex-partner, I have included a brief description of the other options available to set up child maintenance. Child Maintenance Service is a new service and currently only parents with two or more children are eligible to open a case with the Child Maintenance Service. There are two ways that you pay child maintenance through the Statutory Scheme, one option is called Direct Pay. This is where the Child Maintenance Service calculates maintenance payments on parents' behalf and then leaves it up to them to make the payments between themselves. There is also a full collection service available via the Child Maintenance Service, which is the called Collect and Pay. They calculate, collect and enforce payments on a parent's behalf and, because arrangements made using the Child Maintenance Service are legally enforceable and they will take action if payments are not made. If you decide to use the statutory maintenance service in the future, then just to let you know that your responsibility to pay will start around the point you are contacted by the Child Maintenance Service.

The Government plans to introduce costs for using the Child Maintenance Service at some point in the future. There will be three types of costs:

- application fee
- fees for collecting and paying out child maintenance payments
- enforcement charges for paying parents who do not pay

We do not know the exact amount of these costs yet or when they might be introduced as they still need to be approved by Parliament but the Child Maintenance Service will write to everyone with a case to confirm the exact amounts at least a month before they come in.

You are avoiding future costs by making your own family-based arrangement with your children's mother. If you try to renegotiate it and it does not work, you can still apply to the Child Maintenance Service at any stage.

In your post you have mentioned that you are concerned about your children being mentally neglected, there are organisations that may be able to help. Young Minds Parent Helpline is the only national charity committed to improving the mental health and emotional well-being of all children and young people. The website includes dedicated resources for children and young people. For more information you may wish to visit their website at http://www.youngminds.org.uk/parents.

We have a sorting out separation web-app on our website at http://www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation that you may find useful as it offers help and support to separated families.

If you would like to talk to our team in complete confidence about child maintenance you could give us a ring on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on Saturday, alternatively, you can visit our website.

William