Child Maintenance Question

mcscoobs · 28 March 2017 at 7:15AM

This might be a quick one to answer, but can't seem to find the answer on google!

So I currently pay £342 per month to my ex wife, for child maintenance for my 6 year old. I work full time, decent salary, no issues whatsoever.

However, my partner and I are looking at starting our own company. She'd be running it and i'd potentially be on the "board" as a director. My question is this - how would this affect child maintenance? Is my ex wife entitled to any income I receive from the new company? Because any money I receive would be in the form of dividends wouldn't it?

Just to be clear, i'm not trying to avoid any additional child payments, I just wanted to know what she's entitled to and what she's not.

Thanks!

Oakdene · 28 March 2017 at 8:50AM

As the dividend would be income then yes she would be entitled to the pre-arranged % of that.

mark5 · 28 March 2017 at 3:51PM

Rather than take a dividend, could the ltd company pay into a pension for you?

TBagpuss · 29 March 2017 at 6:47PM

Yes. You pay child support on income from all sources, so it would include dividends, wages, any income as a sole trader or partnership etc.

Comedy · 22 May 2017 at 12:58PM

Your best bet would be to have your ex agree with the Child Maintenance Service that she will just be receiving a fixed amount from you and that she isn't expecting it to be income based and you also are not expecting it to be income based. They can do this and it will stop any future calculations being made unless either of you request them to be.

I have this arrangement with my ex, not to avoid any payments but because we are both happy with the amount and do not need the Child Maintenance Service bothering us. If I stop paying the agreed amount then there is a record that she is entitled to it.

There are so many different versions of the Child Maintenance Agency that depending on when the claim was raised you will be subject to different rules. The best is to be on the most recent rules which may involve her closing and re-raising a claim.

I know someone mentioned before that Dividend Income is included but I do not think it is by default. You ex would need to request variations to have it looked at as they only catch PAYE without you saying. Again, not that you would be secretive but you may want to use this as a way of getting your ex's help. You can tell her that your income source will be changing and will be lower based on how they calculate it, that you want to continue to pay the same and that to formalise it a couple of phone calls would need to happen.

Obviously this is only good news for you if the two of you are friendly. It leaves you open in future for if she decides to request a change.

quotememiserable · 16 July 2017 at 11:33AM

Is there a court order with the divorce agreement in it? There should be. That will say whether £342 is a fixed amount, rises over time, related to income, how long its payable for etc.

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