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to reduce maintanence payments as repaying the loan

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Hello
Could you advise me please (its for my friend)

He divorced his wife and making maintenance payments for their son.

When they have been married they had a joint account. they took a loan, which was credited to their joint account but with his name on the loan agreement.

they bought a sofa set and a car.

they divided a sofa set. When they separated she was still using the car, he was putting fuel in and paying all the payments(MOT, Insurance and tax). when the car did not pass the MOT and it was too expensive to repair he sold it. but for the fraction of what they bought it for.

Now he has £6000 to pay off with £200 a month payments.
I wonder if he can reduce his maintenance payments as he is repaying the loan.
there was nothing mentioned in the divorce petition about the loan.

Thank you in advance to everyone who finds time to reply
«1

Comments

  • The maintenance is to support the child.

    I can't see why that should be reduced.
  • lobbyludd
    lobbyludd Posts: 1,464 Forumite
    edited 24 February 2014 at 7:50AM
    As spmeone who had to go through a very lengthy and expensive divorce process....There will have been a financial settlement as part of the divorce detailing who had what and who was responsible for paying what. He will have presumably been responsible for paying the loan. unless he's mega rich the child maintenance is a specific calculation that can only be varied by consent of both parents and if he pays spousal maintenance that will either have been sealed by the court or handed down as a judgement by the court.

    It's not the petition he needs to be looking at but the consent order or court order if it went that far. If it isn't mentioned and it's in his name then it's his to repay.
    :AA/give up smoking (done) :)
  • sacha28
    sacha28 Posts: 881 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    If the loan is in his name and his name alone then surely he is soley responsible?
    His debts have no bearing on his maintenance payments whatsoever, this is for the upkeep of his child.
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  • Is he paying child maintenance as a result of a court order, via the CSA/CMS or a private agreement with his ex wife? This information impacts on the answer.
    I often use a tablet to post, so sometimes my posts will have random letters inserted, or entirely the wrong word if autocorrect is trying to wind me up. Hopefully you'll still know what I mean.
  • Crellow4
    Crellow4 Posts: 276 Forumite
    Debts from the relationship can be considered under the Variations scheme. From what you've posted I do not think he would be eligible as he has disposed of the car. If the PWC still had the use of the car then the income he's assessed on could have been reduced by the monthly loan repayment, minus the first £15 each week. The best advice I can give is for your friend to speak to a debt counsellor.
  • clearingout
    clearingout Posts: 3,290 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    who got the proceeds of the car sale?
  • Cally_Smart
    Cally_Smart Posts: 437 Forumite
    edited 24 February 2014 at 8:34PM
    My husbands ex got the car (large 7 seater) £8000 from the sale of the former marital home and the furniture. He applied for variations but they(CSA) had every excuse why this ,that & the other wouldn't count and didn't allow any of it ! He took on the debts from the FMH and we had to pay them for ages.She sold the car and kept the money. Because he moved the children into a home in next street to us and we had them every weekend it was not classed as debts from the FMH! Because he had to take on a mortgage to house them it was classed differently. Can't really see how though surely that WAS supporting the children! It's meant that 10 years down the line we can't get a mortgage of our own and have to pay more costly rent. The pwc was fully supportive of this arrangement (until CSA got involved)and knows she will benefit from the sale of the house when children are no longer dependent !
  • who got the proceeds of the car sale?
    thank you to everyone who replied. in no way he is looking to take money from his son, but in the situation they are in, he would better put 15 pounds on saving for him...

    he got the money from the car, but it was just a few hundreds as it was broken
  • Is he paying child maintenance as a result of a court order, via the CSA/CMS or a private agreement with his ex wife? This information impacts on the answer.

    its through CSA
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