New child on way - scared I may be in financial trouble

bumeyes

Hi there. I have two children on a previous partner and I pay quite a lot of money to the csa for them. They are 10 years old now and i have moved on with my life and got married.

I'm now am expecting a child with my wife, and I'm a little worried that we are going to struggle. We bought a nice house together and live a pretty comfortable life. However, once my wife gives up work I fear we will struggle.while my wages are quite good, the mortgage payments are high (£1000+) and we rely on my wife's wage to cover bills, etc.

I thought that when we had another child the payments for the other two would decrease, but due to the fact I've had pay rises since the last evaluation I will end up paying more. The csa web site has indicated £100 per week. I don't have £200 a month to myself now, and thats with my wife's wage!

She's only been in her job a couple of months too, so we won't get any maternaty pay from that.

Its all a bit worrying to be fair, and I wondered if anyone could give me an indication of what i might expect. I've read stories of people losing their houses, etc. But what will they do if another child is involved?

Thanks for any help, advice you might give us.

Fission

If you are on the new system (which is quite likely, even if not 100% certain, with children as young as 10), you will be required to pay 20% of 85% of your own net income. That amounts to 17% at the margin. Your wife's income doesn't come into it. Neither does child benefit.

bumeyes

If I phone them to tell them about a new child, will they do a whole new re-assessment?

PreludeForTimeFeelers

bumeyes wrote: »

If I phone them to tell them about a new child, will they do a whole new re-assessment?

Not automatically, they will just do the change you've requested, however be aware that when your ex gets the new assessment there's every chance that she might ask for a full reassessment, especially if it is quite a while since your last assessment.

bumeyes

PreludeForTimeFeelers wrote: »

Not automatically, they will just do the change you've requested, however be aware that when your ex gets the new assessment there's every chance that she might ask for a full reassessment, especially if it is quite a while since your last assessment.

Thanks. And as for the housing situation, what would happen if I couldn't afford the mortgage?

themull1

Sell up?...........did you not think about your finances when you were discussing having a baby?

bumeyes

themull1 wrote: »

Sell up?...........did you not think about your finances when you were discussing having a baby?

Just the sort of response I expected. I wasn't asking to be judged. I was asking a question. Would they make a new family 'homeless' in order to support an existing family.

themull1

Im not judging you - i asked a question. Why would you expect to get your mortgage paid just because you're having a child?

AnxiousMum

bumeyes wrote: »

Just the sort of response I expected. I wasn't asking to be judged. I was asking a question. Would they make a new family 'homeless' in order to support an existing family.

Why would you be homeless? You could sell up, use the equity to put down on a more affordable home, or, like many do who can't afford their current lifestyle when changes occur, rent privately. At a time when your wife can return to work, you can then again make changes according to your financial situation.

Reality is, you now have three children to help support - and just as there is a change to the number of dependents, there may also need to be changes to your lifestyle for a little while.

Congrats on child number 3 by the way

clearingout

bumeyes wrote: »

Just the sort of response I expected. I wasn't asking to be judged. I was asking a question. Would they make a new family 'homeless' in order to support an existing family.

what is 'homeless'?....if you mean do you get to pay less maintenance because you have a large mortgage, the answer is no you don't. If you're asking are there benefits to help out, it is unlikely but very much depends on what you earn (which I'm guessing is significant if you can pay £1k mortgage and everything that goes with house ownership).

Your wife may not be entitled to maternity pay at her place of work but should be entitled to Maternity Allowance. You will get child benefit. If you earn less than £26k with one child you will also receive some tax credit. Your CSA payments will be reduced as a result of having your child, providing you let the CSA know. Your CSA payments will reduce for regular overnight access you have with your other children. You cannot expect your other children to go without because you have 'moved on' which is how your original post perhaps comes across. Whether you like it or not, there will always be people in public forums who are struggling with the CSA - on both sides of the CSA fence. You can appreciate that it is particularly galling for those of us who receive no maintenance for our children that our ex partners are quite happy to 'move on', are having more children, good lifestyles etc. whilst we are struggling to provide for our children. Equally, there are many men (and occassionally women) in your position but without a solid roof over their head whilst their ex partner and their children live the life of riley. Unfortunately, when you have children, there are sacrifices to be made and in planning a new family, you shouldn't have removed the old one from your calculations. Plenty of people manage. I am sure you will too - good luck!

Fission

bumeyes wrote: »

Just the sort of response I expected. I wasn't asking to be judged. I was asking a question. Would they make a new family 'homeless' in order to support an existing family.

Who is "they"?

The Child Support Agency have to assess you according to law, and if you're on the new scheme, housing costs simply don't come into it.

Decisions about whether to make you homeless (I assume you mean decisions whether to seek possession of a mortgaged property in the event of mortgage default) are not for CSA. They are, of course, for mortgage lenders and for courts.