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Hi there,
i need an urgent advice as the court hearing is tommorow
1) we received a last instruction from my ex that she wants the holiday contact to reduce as my daughter(7yrs/ Year 2) is going to join a private tution/classes during holidays, to improve her Grammer and Spelling (btw it is not advised by her teacher).
Question- Can the contact required to reduce cuz of some private classes.
2) futher, she is requesting Child Maintenance, as during the contact my daughter stays at her grandparent(who are supervising the contact cuz my ex alleged that i got anger issues).
Online calculator counts the number of nights the child stays with the non-residence parent, in my case its ‘0’ as my daughter goes straight to her grandparents house(neutral party)
Question-Do I have to pay for the maintenance?
any thoughts, any advise would be appreciated
thanks
Hi. I dont think the judge would just take her word that she is going to do private lessons. I think they would see this as her blocking contact, how many weeks do you have at the moment ? And how long do the lessons last, could you not take her and pick up from the lessons. I know its holiday contact but it dosnt mean you have to be on a beach !
Not sure about the maintenance, are you also staying at the grandparents ?
Hi ak57
Thanks for your response
The problem is she is living near 200miles away from me and thats why it is decided tht the contact should mainly be on holidays as oppose to alternate weekend contact.
The lessons are suppose be for 2hours everyday during Autumn, Spring and 1st half term holiday(one week school holidays). Thats the reason she wants the contact to take place in Christmas, Easter and Summer holidays(6weeks). She propose that this holidays should be equally divided. Is it fair to consider the private lessons
Im not staying with my parents but my daughter stays with them during my contact and i visit their house to meet her everyday for 1-2hours. So practically my daughter doesn't stays with me at all. Do i still have to pay for Child Maintainence.
When you ask if you have to pay child maintenance - do you mean at all, or at a reduced rate? The answer is that you do have to pay it, but if your daughter is staying with your mother for more than 52 nights per year, then it may well be possible to reduce this by 1/7th - are you paying through the CSA at the moment?
One possible solution to the problem may be to suggest that she has tuition while she is with you, so contact remains as it is - however, I wouldn't suggest this at this point, but it could be something you suggest to the court if it looks as though the judge may rule to reduce contact - however, with the contact you are having, I'm not sure that a court would reduce the contact further.
thanks actd
no, im not paying for any maintenance at all. And my daughter does not stay for more than 52 nights per year with my mother. in fact since last year she didnt even stayed with me for more than 3 days. which bring us to the question that Can my ex claim backdated Child Maintenance as she is receiving benefit.
the privare lessons are expensive for me- while being on benefit myself. but shes is doing it cause my daughter's grade is a Bit low than the actual target(she found out that during parental meeting with her teacher)
If she is going through the CSA, then the maintenance will be from when she applied to the CSA to take the case, otherwise it won't be backdated. If you are on benefits and earning less than £100 per week, then you will be due to pay £5 per week maintenance.
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