Child maintenance

ankita2

hi
im thinking of divorcing my husband , long story short im not sure if i will be able support my son and my self with money i earn , i do work full time and my son is 8 so it is not tragic but still i do not want to sit on my back and take benefits i want to work but im afraid the money i have wont be enough , so i know that my husband will have to pay child maintenance but im not so sure how that works i went on government web to calculate how much money i will get for my son but still dont know if thats right , my husband earns a lot of money around 40.000 a year so he is over 200 per week and that puts him in basic Plus , and as far as i do understand this is that he will have to pay me 15 % of hes earnings plus 9% add up to 15 % cuz he earns over 200 a week is that how it works ? cuz that would mean that he will have to pay around 600 pounds a month , please help

monty-doggy

Google child maintenance options and use the calculator on there. It depends how many nights a week he has child to stay.

sulkisu

ankita2 wrote: »

hi
im thinking of divorcing my husband , long story short im not sure if i will be able support my son and my self with money i earn , i do work full time and my son is 8 so it is not tragic but still i do not want to sit on my back and take benefits i want to work but im afraid the money i have wont be enough , so i know that my husband will have to pay child maintenance but im not so sure how that works i went on government web to calculate how much money i will get for my son but still dont know if thats right , my husband earns a lot of money around 40.000 a year so he is over 200 per week and that puts him in basic Plus , and as far as i do understand this is that he will have to pay me 15 % of hes earnings plus 9% add up to 15 % cuz he earns over 200 a week is that how it works ? cuz that would mean that he will have to pay around 600 pounds a month , please help

You would be expected to work anyway (or at least look for work) as your child is over the age of 5. Can I suggest that you work out how you can manage on your salary alone and possibly look for options to increase it.


CM is never guaranteed - your husband could lose his job or reduce his hours (unfortunately he wouldnt be the first NRP to do this). If your son were to live with his father, you would have to pay CM and if there is shared custody, you might get nothing.

BigAunty

There is a dedicated child support board on this forum that you outline your options.

To check your benefit entitlements as a lone parent, the Turn2us online benefit calculator is regarded as reliable. There is also a benefits forum that can help you understand this. Child support payments do not affected benefit entitlements so is paid on top of your employment and benefit income.

Note that lone parents only have to work 16 hours a week in order to qualify for working tax credits if their income is low. Some lone parents find that the cost of child care, travel to work, their preference to be more hands on at home means that part time employment suits them and due to child maintenance or benefits, they aren't any less off. For example, if they work longer hours, they find their housing benefit and child tax credit simply reduces and their child care costs go up.

The CSA, who came up with that formula that the NRP should pay, is switching to a different way of operating, hoping to encourage parents to negotiate a settlement. This may make things a bit more fluid.