I've posted a few times over the months around this subject and my situation, I'm 2 weeks away from a first court date now where my ex wife is going to try and get as much from me as possible (in a nutshell).
I'm not sure if there will be a form a or maintenance pending suit discussed or just the horrible form e that I've submitted.
I've been paying 1200 a month now since I left the family home in May 2017. I don't have the children stay with me (I'm not that paternal sadly) and the csa says I should pay around 170 a week on my new salary, it was over 220 a week on my old salary (changed jobs starts November).
My solicitor is about to send me my ex bank statements etc which I think is horrible. I want to know from anyone who has gone through this, what to expect. I want to pay child maintenance only and have some equity from the house which will likely be sold at some point.
If my ex has the earning potential of 50+ k a year (less than me currently) but is retraining so earning less...will I get taken to the cleaners?
Having to pay anything more or having to go all the way to a court decision (because my wife is a bully and can't ever accept anything I say or want) would be horrible.
Any thoughts?
Hi There,
It can be difficult to gain an agreement, when you re dealing with someone who won't agree to anything, I know from experience!
The one thing I would say Is try and detach yourself from decisions to a certain extent and look at things as if you were looking at someone else's case, ensure you weigh up what you stand to gain from fighting for it, and what that could cost you, it's very easy to get caught up on a certain figure and go all out to get that, and spend the extra you are fighting for (or even more) to get it which means more stress and no real gain.
It can sometimes be better to accept a lower settlement to avoid the cost and stress, you may also find your ex is less difficult going forward as it looks more like you are accepting her view.
I would set the amount you would like to achieve, then work out the minimum you would accept based on not having to fight, and try and come away with something in the middle.
GTTS