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Hello - I am glad to have found this forum and looking forward to contributing and receiving advice.
I am UK based - Decree Absolute was finally given last week. My daughter will be 16 at the turn of the year. I have been unemployed for a good while but am aiming to start a business and become self-employed when the equity from the soon to be sold family house is available.
My divorce took 3 years to finalise. During a series of formal mediation sessions 18 months ago I was advised that I would be able to make my maintenance payments to an account in my daughter's name. This is extremely important to me - my ex-wife has an equestrian obsession that is out of control and taking more money than she can get her hands on - ultimately that is the reason for our divorce after 20 years together.
I am absolutely committed to paying maintenance for my daughter - who is an intelligent and capable kid - but I am damned if I'm paying it into my ex-wife's account where it will disappear into the black hole of livery fees, farrier's charges, vet's bills, monthly equine physiotherapists (?!) and the ceaseless round of 'entry fees' to compete in half a dozen classes every weekend as she trawls the country in the 6 berth horse lorry, that my money provided, as she drags my daughter around with her - simultaneously exhausting her and adversly affecting her education.
So - my proposal is that, once she turns 16, I set up an account in the joint names of myself and my daughter and pay my monthly maintenance into that account. As long as the payments going into that account are above the CSA minimums - and they absolutely will be - am I entitled to do so? Or do I literally have to flush money every month into the drain that is my wife's account?
Any/all thoughts/help/advice gladly received - many thanks in advance.
I will ask the CMO to comment, as far as I recall, your ex may be entitled to ask the CSA to become involved after 12 months which would then override the court order.
Hi Smashdad,
Whilst you're waiting for the CMO to reply why not check out this article regarding maintenance.
It sounds like you and your ex have come to an agreement without involving the CSA, is this correct ?
Gooner
Goonerplum - yes, that's correct - no CSA involvement thus far. Thanks for the link but I'd already read that page and it doesn't directly address my question.
The basic issue is can I pay maintenance into an account in the joint names of my daughter and myself?
My reason for wanting to do so being that I want to ensure that it is being spent for my daughter's benefit and not my ex-wife's - I obviously would have no intention, or need, to access the actual money in the account.
Hi, I'm Sarah, a consultant at Child Maintenance Options.
If this arrangement is agreed as part of the court order, then yes you can do this. However the moderator is right, after 12 months your ex could potentially apply for a statutory arrangement. In this situation, payments would be made to your ex-wife.
Your other option would be to make a family-based arrangement when your court order ends - this is where you and the other parent sort out child maintenance between yourselves. With this type of arrangement, you could agree that you pay into your daughters account, or that you for specific things like clothing. Its completely up to the two of you.
You can find tips and support making a family-based arrangement, including guidance on talking about money with your ex-wife, at www.cmoptions.org. Or you can speak to someone in confidence by calling 0800 988 0988.
I hope this information helps.
Sarah
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