CMS Payments - ex-wife demanding money for childcare

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  • nannytone_2
    nannytone_2 Posts: 12,945
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    also shared care doesn't automatically mean that no child maintenance is payable.

    even with shared care, if one parent earns a lot more than the other, maintenance can still be required
  • duchy
    duchy Posts: 19,511
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    TBagpuss wrote: »
    Are you in a position to provide alterntive child care?



    A court would not explicitly order you to pay child care costs but they could determine that you should be paying an element of spousal maintenance as well as the child support, if they felt that, looking at the financial picture as a whole, it was reasonable.

    Sinc eyou are separated, you no longer get a say in whetheror not she choses to work. You are of course free to suggest that the children move to live with you, and to give up work to care for them, if you want


    In orderto asses whether paying moe than you curently do would be fair, you'd need to look at the whole picture , including your respective incomes, your outgoings and finacial needs, and how other assets such as savings, equity in any property, and pensions are being divided.

    In terms of contact, alternate weekends are fairly common. If you were living closer tgether then it might be parctical for the childnre to spend time with you in the week as well. It is not unreasonable for her to want them to spend the interim weekends with her so that she gets that extended, quality time with them as well.

    Spousal support is uncommon especially for women of working age and a woman who already works with a soon to be ex husband who is a normal earner rather than very well paid is unlikely to get support ordered by the court. If she did it would be for a set period to enable her to retool to join the workforce. As the OPs wife has a boss she has feelings for and is already planning on increasing her hours your scenario is hardly applicable. The OP certainly needs a good solicitor for sure but spousal support is not likely to be a serious problem.

    The fact is his wife has problems understanding that as a single women with her children living with her that she needs to be financially reliant and that her ex is no longer responsible for funding her lifestyle but she is. His responsibilities extend to their children but not her once marital assets are split.
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  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    nannytone wrote: »
    also shared care doesn't automatically mean that no child maintenance is payable.

    even with shared care, if one parent earns a lot more than the other, maintenance can still be required



    Salary has absolutely no impact on who pays child maintenance........
  • MataNui
    MataNui Posts: 1,075 Forumite
    What you are legally required to pay has nothing at all to do with her situation. You can take that as either a good or bad thing i guess but in this case it really doesnt matter that she considers herself at a disadvantage because she is the one required to pay the childcare costs.

    The way it works is simple. CMS look at your income and tell you that you need to pay her x per week. You pay that. ALL costs associated with the kids are then down to her, 100%. You can pay for extras if you want or not if you dont. Forget about the comment saying a court might require you to pay an element of Spousal support. Its rare in any case and even when it is used its only if there is a huge difference in incomes. It used to be the norm, now its the exception. From what you have said you are nowhere near being in that situation.

    Go to the CMS website and work out what you would need to pay. If its less than you pay now then show her the calculations, tell her she is lucky to be getting what she does and to sod off. If its more then you are probably best agreeing to a compromise with her. You wont lose out either way is its what you are legally required to pay anyway.
  • nannytone_2
    nannytone_2 Posts: 12,945
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    Guest101 wrote: »
    Salary has absolutely no impact on who pays child maintenance........

    not directly.
    but if 1 parent is working 16 hours a week on NLW and the other is earning 60k ...
    the chances are that the higher earner will be required to pay something even if it is shred custody.

    especially when the low earning parent will probably be receiving state benefit
  • fabforty
    fabforty Posts: 809 Forumite
    The days where single mothers could stay on benefits until their youngest child turned 18, are long gone. Your ex may well be better off on benefits in the short term, but long term this is less likely. Depending on the age of your children, her job and other factors, working now (even if it is inconvenient) might make her better off and far less dependent on you in the medium to long term. And even though her income won't affect your maintenance contributions, it will be in everybody's interests - especially your childrens', if she can earn a decent living. Childcare costs are a relatively short term problem - the impact of being out of the workforce for a considerable length of time, can last for years.
  • Gpod
    Gpod Posts: 27 Forumite
    edited 23 October 2016 at 12:09PM
    Use the Child Maintenance Calculator which will tell you how much you are liable to pay if your ex opens a case with the Child Maintenance Service. It will also give you a guide figure as to what you should be paying. The amount is calculated as X% of taxable gross income, after occupational or personal pension scheme contributions are deducted, depending on how many children you have and how much you earn.
    You may also receive a reduction depending on how many nights your children spend with you throughout the year.

    https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenance

    Also, you could read through this:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/325219/how-we-work-out-child-maintenance.pdf

    I would suggest that any money you pay for child support is made through a bank account and labelled Child Maintenance, as if your ex opens a claim with CMS, you could end up with an overlapping period where you end up paying child support twice.
  • clearingout
    clearingout Posts: 3,290
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    Jesus wept. Really have seen it all now. Damned if you do and damned if you don't, eh?
  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    nannytone wrote: »
    not directly.
    but if 1 parent is working 16 hours a week on NLW and the other is earning 60k ...
    the chances are that the higher earner will be required to pay something even if it is shred custody.

    especially when the low earning parent will probably be receiving state benefit



    That's not how the system works in this country.


    If the PWC is the one earning £60k, even with shared custody, the other party will have to pay, but at a discounted rate of £7 + 50%
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