[Solved] Spousal Maintenance

It all depends on her and yours income and outgoings. If you can prove your outgoings leave you with very little then what can she claim. does she work ?

I have just moved out 5-6 nights a week. 1-2 nights in the marital home with the kids.

Yes she works - 16 hours a week! She was a full time mother for a long time and then I supported her through university. She has a degree in early years education is part EYPS qualified but works part time as a nursery assistant.

Currently spending nearly 50% of my income on child maintenance, mortgage and loans.

Staying at my girlfriends most of the time so have no outgoings on rent etc but if I rent my own place another 30-40% of my income will go to.

Honestly feel like jacking everything in and taking some time out from the rat run - and stick 2 fingers up at her to boot.

If she is working 16 hours a week, she is entitled to tax credits. If your paying her mortgage then I doubt you would be made to pay spousal maintenance

I pay 14% of my salary after tax through the CSA to the ex for 1 child
http://www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator

I think they took into account £2,500 of the £14,000 in matrimonial debt that she left me with (the majority was her spending). They also take into account travel costs to see my son.

The annoying thing is, my ex chooses not to work & claims benefits while living off her parents. So is on a better take home "salary" than she ever had after working for 13 years. (She only paid rent for 2 years of that 13 too)
As she doesn't work, all shared debts were immediately transferred to me & all her previous (from before we were together) debts are being written off as she's declared herself bankrupt.

I'm partially disabled, work full time, pay for 3 cars that the ex owned & other debts that either she or we ran up together (honeymoon etc), pay maintenance, £100 fuel every 3 weeks when I see my son, a payment plan to my solicitor for getting access to my son & my rent. That's 75% of my net wages.

Be careful if your ex goes for an open ended agreement that seem to be in vogue. Mine tried it with me and it's basically an agreement that pays a nominal £1 a year to her, but that she can come to you if she needs money for anything extra. This will be in force until she marries again. She wanted this on top of spousal maintenance!
I refused to agree to it, as it was an open ended cheque. It cost me the house equity, half my pension pot, the CSA payments, paying off her car loan for the next three years and and spousal maintenance for a year. She remarried six months after the divorce!
Hopefully your ex isn't aware of these open ended agreements. You can get away with paying six months spousal maintenance, which is usually considered fair by courts. The problem will be if her or her lawyer are clued up, it goes to court and she gets it all.