Tribunal now done and dusted...hopefully

Soubrette

I had my Tribunal last week. As some of you may remember I have an ex that is a director of a ltd company (IT consultant) who claimed a salary of £9500 take home (minimum wage basically). He has in the past had a turnover of £60,000 to £120,000.

We had to be at the Tribunal at 10.00am but didn't get seen until the afternoon as the paperwork was so complicated. We warned of this by the clerk though and in the event the Tribunal itself only took about 2 hours.

The ex was the one under the spotlight, he had to explain why his income had dropped so drastically (he had taken over £35000 in dividends the year before my claim) and also quite a few large transactions on his bank account that did not appear to come from anywhere. I was also allowed to ask questions.

The atmosphere was informal and the judge was very jovial and kind, the forensic accountant was carp - he didn't pick up on any of the large sums of money going in and out of the account, the judge did all of that.

In the end he has been given a nominal salary of £25,000 and child maintenance will be calculated on that, he will also have to pay the arrears accrued from the original claim in 2008.

I spoke the CSA representative afterwards to explain that this was a particularly bad year and what steps will be taken to make sure that if he has a good year that he will pay a fair proportion, unfortunately it seems I will have to ask for a reassessment and probably go through the whole process again. It seems obvious to me that his tax returns should be looked at but such is life.

However, it seems that the ex and his g/f have had a parting of ways as in the last few months he has offered to pay half of the expensive ski trip that was in the offing and has been buying clothes etc (even for the daughter he doesn't see although not so much of course). If things continual on this front then I shall not bother to ask for another reassessment next year even if he had a fantastic year.

At this time I am pleased that we have a reasonable sum of money per month and so do not have to ask constantly if the ex is prepared to help out, making us feel like we're going cap in hand to him and him feeling like we're always asking for money. I am not interested in pursuing more as if the ex is prepared to spend money himself as I feel that that is a certain pleasure in that to which he is entitled to. However we also do not have to rely on him to pay school uniform etc, so anything he buys will be extra.

All in all I am pleased with the outcome, partially because of the change in the ex. Although he was not best pleased with the outcome, when we were discussing it afterwards with the CSA rep he kept saying he hadn't taken any income from the company apart from his salary (I think he was hoping to just keep it in his ltd for another 4 years and then take it out). She said something about the Tribunal looking at the whole picture but didn't really explain it very well imo.

Sou

mitchaa

£25k assessment is a lot better than £9.5k so well done

Kimitatsu

Really pleased for you Soubrette :beer:

Soubrette

Thanks guys

I feel I've basically got the best of both worlds at the mo - the ex is paying a reasonable amount AND paying out for things himself so is probably spending about 15% of his now income on his girls. Even if he at some point starts earning mega bucks I feel that his contribution to us and to the girls directly is still reasonable (rich people spend much less of their income proportionally than poor people on their children).

And if he starts playing silly beggars again then we can always go through the CSA grindstone again (it was way more trouble for him than for me).

Sou

AnxiousMum

Well done Soubrette - you are right - while 25K is probably quite a bit less than his 'real' income, it's the whole picture that should be considered. I feel it's important for the absent parent still to be seen by the kids to be helping them out directly - and if that means a little less child support - then great. But kids need to know that both parents are doing their bit, and to see it with their own eyes - THAT confidence it gives the kids is worth alot!

Well done though for sticking it out and ensuring a fair playing field.

CSA_Help

Soubrette


Well done for winning tribunal as i don't know what to expect when mines comes through

Found your original post and it now seems your ex wasn't too clever good result for you and your children

samhuzz

Well done, glad to hear that you've got it sorted for now.

DUTR

Soubrette wrote: »

In the end he has been given a nominal salary of £25,000 and child maintenance will be calculated on that, he will also have to pay the arrears accrued from the original claim in 2008.

I spoke the CSA representative afterwards to explain that this was a particularly bad year and what steps will be taken to make sure that if he has a good year that he will pay a fair proportion, unfortunately it seems I will have to ask for a reassessment and probably go through the whole process again. It seems obvious to me that his tax returns should be looked at but such is life.

However, it seems that the ex and his g/f have had a parting of ways as in the last few months he has offered to pay half of the expensive ski trip that was in the offing and has been buying clothes etc (even for the daughter he doesn't see although not so much of course). If things continual on this front then I shall not bother to ask for another reassessment next year even if he had a fantastic year.

At this time I am pleased that we have a reasonable sum of money per month and so do not have to ask constantly if the ex is prepared to help out, making us feel like we're going cap in hand to him and him feeling like we're always asking for money. I am not interested in pursuing more as if the ex is prepared to spend money himself as I feel that that is a certain pleasure in that to which he is entitled to. However we also do not have to rely on him to pay school uniform etc, so anything he buys will be extra.

All in all I am pleased with the outcome, partially because of the change in the ex. Although he was not best pleased with the outcome, when we were discussing it afterwards with the CSA rep he kept saying he hadn't taken any income from the company apart from his salary (I think he was hoping to just keep it in his ltd for another 4 years and then take it out). She said something about the Tribunal looking at the whole picture but didn't really explain it very well imo.

Sou

Well done, glad you have not gone for the greed card :j

speedster

good result!

well worth the wait and the hassle i'd say.

still, he could have easily avoided it. most nrp's would be glad to have a pwc like you instead of the greedy witches that we're stuck with!!

:beer:

Soubrette

AnxiousMum wrote: »

Well done Soubrette - you are right - while 25K is probably quite a bit less than his 'real' income, it's the whole picture that should be considered. I feel it's important for the absent parent still to be seen by the kids to be helping them out directly - and if that means a little less child support - then great. But kids need to know that both parents are doing their bit, and to see it with their own eyes - THAT confidence it gives the kids is worth alot!

Well done though for sticking it out and ensuring a fair playing field.

I definitely agree with this, I actually think it is damaging for children to see one parent reluctant to pay for anything for them. I think it tells the child on a deep level that money is more important to that parent than the child is.

I also think that going out together and shopping is bonding (as long as it's not clothes, I hate clothes shopping )

Sou

Soubrette

speedster wrote: »

good result!

well worth the wait and the hassle i'd say.

still, he could have easily avoided it. most nrp's would be glad to have a pwc like you instead of the greedy witches that we're stuck with!!

:beer:

He thinks I am a greedy witch

It's all about perspective

Sou