Question on maintenance for my mum.

MXW

Katie~baby wrote: »

Im probably being really dumb and please correct me if im wrong cause ive been known not to understand things LOL

I dont understand why he should pay for a child that has moved out? And also if the child/ren are no longer in full time education why he should pay anything?

I was always under the understanding that as soon as the child leaves full time education the maintenance stops all together. Unless your dad and your mum have a legal arrangement for him to pay her money each month even when the children move out then by law he is'nt obligated to pay her anything (when the children have gone)....

Again sorry if ive missed something!

The op has previously stated that the court order is payable in respect of her mum and sister.

Frugal_Fox

Hi, thank you for your responses.

More details - the court order is for my mum and my youngest sister. £1000 for mum & £250 for my sister. My youngest sister has now left home, so legally he should be paying £1000. He is offering £950. £50 less than the court order. It might seem petty, arguing over £50, but really its the manner in which it has been done. The court order was never index linked, so in reality he is paying less today than when the order was made 8 years ago.

Mum has drafted him a letter reminding him that the court order was £1000 for her and that he has not been paying for our middle sister for the last 8 years, so if and when she leaves home, he has no need to reduce the maintenance order further.

Oldernotwiser

Are you saying that your mother gets £1,000 maintenance per month (for herself) from your father, on top of what she earns? And she hasn't been able to make any pension contributions? How long will she carry on getting this for?
Perhaps I've missed something here!

loftus

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Are you saying that your mother gets £1,000 maintenance per month (for herself) from your father, on top of what she earns? And she hasn't been able to make any pension contributions? How long will she carry on getting this for?
Perhaps I've missed something here!

Its not that unusual. If the couple agreed the wife wouldn't work and would stay at home to care for the children she will have forfeited the chance of a career and the opportunity to build up a pension of her own. If there was no pension sharing order then the Court Order may specify spousal maintenance for life.
If he wants to alter it then he has to go to court for a variation. Something I believe the mother could also do if she believes that it is no longer fair.

Oldernotwiser

loftus wrote: »

Its not that unusual. If the couple agreed the wife wouldn't work and would stay at home to care for the children she will have forfeited the chance of a career and the opportunity to build up a pension of her own. If there was no pension sharing order then the Court Order may specify spousal maintenance for life.
If he wants to alter it then he has to go to court for a variation. Something I believe the mother could also do if she believes that it is no longer fair.

I don't think that I was questioning the maintenance, it was just that the OP was describing his/her mother as being too badly off to have contributed to a pension when it sounds to me as though she's had a substantial income. (No reason why she shouldn't, it just didn't seem to fit the picture that the OP was painting.) £12,000 a year for life doesn't sound like a bad payout for 17 years of marriage. It compares pretty well to most people's pensions!

Frugal_Fox

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I don't think that I was questioning the maintenance, it was just that the OP was describing his/her mother as being too badly off to have contributed to a pension when it sounds to me as though she's had a substantial income. (No reason why she shouldn't, it just didn't seem to fit the picture that the OP was painting.) £12,000 a year for life doesn't sound like a bad payout for 17 years of marriage. It compares pretty well to most people's pensions!

I'm not arguing the value - its a fairly hefty sum, however, out of the sale of the matrimonial home - which had to be sold, mum got £10000 as a deposit for a house. Unfortunately in the south where she is, this does not go far. She has had to take a mortgage out until she is 65 to purchase the 3 bed she is in. Her mortgage is just under £800 a month. £200 then does not go far. The option to down size isn't there - she would still need a two bed as my middle sister still lives at home, and prices for a two bed where they live are very high.

EDITED TO ADD - Dad does not pay the mortgage. Mum does that out of the maintenance. Not sure if I'd made that clear!

Frugal_Fox

loftus wrote: »

If there was no pension sharing order then the Court Order may specify spousal maintenance for life.

As to a pension sharing order - Dad did not have a pension when they separated! He had savings plans, but no pension, thus mum was not legally entitled to this. He'd pulled lots of clever financial tricks in the 4 years before they separated. It really looks like he was planning to leave for a while and was just getting the finances in order to minimise the effect to him. The matrimonial home had been remortgaged and the surplas put into his firm to 'do it up'. Mum sees now that she was a bit naive about the finances in their marriage - but hindsight is a great asset!

loftus

£1000 a month doesn't go far when paying a mortgage, bills and food. She would have needed to make substantial payments into a pension to build up a sufficient pot to have a comfortable retirement - so would need to be working and earning quite a bit too.
It sounds like dad has got away with a good settlement. What was the equity that she got £10k from? Why were the savings plans not included as marital assets?
I realise there is no point crying over spilt milk, but if dads income is as substantial as is being made out I think he has come out of this pretty well.

Scarlett1

Frugal is your mum retired, if not can she not get a part time job to cover the shortfull in maintenance ?

I know you may feel that your mum has suffered an injustice, but spousal maintenance is very rare these days and as oldernotwiser says £12,000 per year is a good income to have, it will probably amount to more than what she would have got by receiving a chunk of the house after it has been sold.

Sorry if im not understanding the situation properly

loftus

Scarlett1 wrote: »

Frugal is your mum retired, if not can she not get a part time job to cover the shortfull in maintenance ?

I know you may feel that your mum has suffered an injustice, but spousal maintenance is very rare these days and as oldernotwiser says £12,000 per year is a good income to have, it will probably amount to more than what she would have got by receiving a chunk of the house after it has been sold.

Sorry if im not understanding the situation properly

It's not that rare if the husband has a career and a good income and the wife has not had the opportunity to build such a career. I'm not saying £1000 a month is to be sneezed at but we don't know the income of the husband and the standard of living enjoyed pre-divorce.

Take a look at the forums at ondivorce.co.uk - plenty of worried men on there fearing spousal maintenance orders.