Am I on the right track, before I speak to ex ...

esmerellda

Hiya,

I've been seperated for a couple years now and ex is finally putting the old marital home on the market. We need to sit down and sort out a long term plan for the kids/child maintenance etc. Things with the house are ok, we're splitting the equity after fees down the middle so no problems there(yet).

I have looked on the CSA site calculators and it says he should be paying £88 per week towards our three children...who live with me and now (since end May) my new partner.

Ex has the children once a month, Friday eve to Sunday eve (2 overnights), at his house and a few days here and there in holidays and as suits. It was his choice as I was happy with every other weekend etc but he has other commitments (part of why he's my ex lol) so it is all he wants.

He is in a relationship too but no children on that side of things.

Currently my ex is paying £250 a month directly to my landlord , and I feel a bit odd him paying the majority of the rent for me and my new partner, so I would like to ask him to put the money into a seperate account which will be used for the children (food, school stuff, trips, clubs, treats etc) and I can pay the rent myself...plus it loses the uncertaintly over whether he has actually bothered to pay it that month (he's missed a few) and puts me back in control of my own finances.

He earns about £30k pa.

So does £88 a week and one weekend a month sound ok ? Just so I'm at the right starting point once the house is sold and we can get some permanency to arrangements.

I'd like to avoid court, csa etc etc and keep it amicable for the kids sakes and just want to be reasonable.

I only receive child tax credits and child benefit myself, my partner works, so I don't believe they are affected ?

Many thanks

xx

gratefulforhelp_2

I'm not an expert at all but...

If you have an amicable arrangement, great, try to keep it that way.
I personally would not be happy with him paying direct to my landlord
Does he know you are going to be effectively asking for more money? Obviously this is the legal minimum and your kids are entitled to it, but how will he react?
Matters of contact with the children and child maintenance should never ever be mixed.

Huge good luck with this.

kelloggs36

If £88 per week is 25% of his net income then this seems fine - if you are both happy with that, then ask for him to pay it to you and you do what you need to with it - pay the rent or whatever with it.