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Hi There,
I'd be grateful for thoughts/advice on my situation.
I've been divorced for 3 years and am now re-married. I have two of my own children who live with their mother (and new husband) and three step-children. All children are between 9 and 12.
When I split with my ex we sold the house. The finances were that she had 2/3 of equity (200K) and I had 1/3 out of which came agents fees etc. I agreed to pay her £950 pcm which was cited as £450 per child rather than maintenance for her. This was after a long process between solicitors, my solicitor advised me against such an amount, and I had legal costs in excess of £10,000. My ex also wanted half my pension by we settled on about 15%. I have my children every other weekend and half the school holidays.
I've negotiated the payments down to £850 pcm in two reductions of £50 over the last two years. She has also agreed, for the first time, to give me £100 per week when I have the children for a full week in the holidays. (According to CSA calculator my payment should be £49 per week but its not clear if this is per child or not).
My wife is re-married and her husband still owns a property he rents out.
Whilst we have a good income my wife and I are unable to do many things we want to with our five children - normal activities, days out etc. and in the current climate our finances are becoming increasingly difficult.
I feel that I pay more than enough for my two children and I'd like to reduce what I pay. My children are going on holiday twice (abroad) this summer with their mother, their house is undergoing considerable improvements etc. etc. and I'm struggling to take them out for a day when I have them. Can I appeal to reduce the amount I pay set by a court order or am I in a now win situation?!
Thanks... I look forward to hearing others' experiences.....
4321da
Hi There,
As far as I know as long as on the CSA calculator you have put the number of children you are paying for and also the number living with you at home then the £49 quoted should be the total amount to pay, I may have this wrong though.
From my own situation i'm lead to believe that any court order over money only stand for 12 months, when the 12 months are up you can go to CSA i'm getting close to the time I can do this, so If I'm wrong about this please correct me 😉 )
Seems you pay a lot of money which as you say stops YOU from having fun with your children, I also had to agree to an over payment in CSA but not as high as yours thankfully.
I'd say that if you are able to go down the CSA route it might be worth deciding what you feel fair to pay even if this is over the CSA stated amount, and tell your ex that that is what you will pay if she doesn't except this then you will use CSA, that way you can be the person that is in the right by paying what you feel fair, so that your children don't suffer.
Darren
Hi Darren,
Thanks for your reply - last time I tried to look into this my solicitor told me that the twelve month period was to protect the recipient rather than the payer. I'm sure I rang the CSA to ask about this - admittedly it was a while ago and things may have changed again since then. I want a couple of hundred a month off - so she'd still get £650 - and that would make a big difference.
Lets see what others think!
4321da
Hi There,
That sounds fair, So many blokes won't pay up for there kids and then leave the "ex" struggling, I've never wanted my son to go without however like you my ex has pushed for more than CSA suggest saying she can't afford to live otherwise and has then completed home improvements and been off on multiple holidays.
As you say I'll watch to see what others say.
Darren
As far as I am aware, the CSA calculation would be for you to pay 20% of your takehome pay in maintenance for your children, which would be reduced by 25% because you have three dependant children. Additionally, it would be further reduced by 1/7th for each 52 nights your children stay with you. I'm not certain on the rules of how long the court order remains before the CSA can override, but from what I have gathered on the forum, 12 months does seem right. It would be worth contacting CMEC (link at the top of the forum) to check this.
Anything you pay in excess of this is voluntary, so you could come to an agreement with your ex on the basis that if she doesn't agree to be reasonable, then you go to the CSA and abide by their calculation.
Thanks for comments...
I'll get onto CMEC tomorrow and see what they say, will post outcome here - it all hinges on the court order only standing for a set amount of time...
Like I said I was told by my solicitor 12 months,
I hope this is the case as I'm nearly there.....
I keep an eye out for the result
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