Hi there
Yet another in the club...
In the process of sorting this out
Ex is moving 120 miles away approx. And suggested having the kids every fortnight for the weekend.
On top of the allowance.
My payment for 2 kids on this frequency looks to be £55 a week.
What expenses would be allowable if I was to,
Drive full distance
Half distance to meet in the middle
Also my son is registered disabled, and she claims disability allowance and also carers.
Obviously for my limited time which looks to be dictated by herself I would be my sons carer, does this count for anything?
We live in a rural area of Scotland. I'm feeling rather powerless as I have my children visiting time dictated to me along with how much she seems to think she's owed.
I know they usually say to do these things between them but I'm after a bit of safe guarding of myself.
I assume general income/outgoings also don't come into the calculation?
Hello Symondodj
Child maintenance is calculated based on a paying parent’s income alone. It is worked out on their gross taxable income. This is any taxable income before tax and national insurance is deducted, but after any pension contributions. The calculation also takes into account any overnight contact the children have with the paying parent and any other children that live in the paying parent’s household.
The fact the other parent receives Carer’s Allowance and Disability Living Allowance for your son would not affect the payments you make. However, if you would like information on whether you are entitled to receive any of this for when you have care of your son, you may wish to consider speaking to the Jobcentre Plus.
If you and the other parent were to arrange child maintenance between yourselves (a family-based arrangement), as there are no set rules to follow, it would be down to the two of you to decide how and whether to factor travel expenses when working out your payments.
The Child Maintenance Service (the Government’s statutory maintenance service) may take into account travel expenses in certain circumstances, however, it is managed on a case specific basis.
You can find out further information on how the Child Maintenance Service calculate child maintenance in their "How we work out child maintenance" guide. The link is https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/325219/how-we-work-out-child-maintenance.pdf.
For a more personalised response, you may wish to contact Child Maintenance Options directly at http://www.cmoptions.org.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a website, 'Sorting out Separation'. It aims to make it much easier for separating and separated parents (and childless couples) to find the support they need, when and where they need it, and encourages them to collaborate on a range of issues. The link is https://www.sortingoutseparation.org.uk/.
Regards
William