Am I required to pay maintenance for my Partner's daughter

MJaye

Hi,


I currently live with my partner who has a 10 year old daughter from a previous relationship. We also have a 3yr old son together. We own the property together.


Our relationship has been particularly rocky for some time now and although I don't want to separate I would like to be prepared and know where I stand if it does happen.


Can anyone advise where I stand in terms of child maintenance? Clearly I know I have an obligation to my son, but would I be required to make maintenance payments for my partners daughter?


Also, what would happen to the house. Could it be sold or would I be required to move out, but continue to pay or contribute towards the mortgage.


I currently earn £42.5K a year and my partner earns just under £18K part-time (26hrs per week).


I would not be able to afford to pay the mortgage on our current property, contribute towards my son or both children and buy or rent another property for myself to live in.


Any information would be appreciated.


Thanks
MJaye

eve31

Only if you have legally adopted her.

shoe*diva79

You would not be legally required to pay CM for the child who is not yours biologically.

With regard to your house, I assume its in joint names? If so, then your wife can stay in the house with the children and you would need to come to an agreement between yourselves. Many couples find that the CM the NRP pays and any additional benefits the PWC can claim are enough for the PWC to continue paying the mortgage on their own. You would remain on the mortgage tho so if she defaulted it would affect your credit record.

Or you could agree to sell and split the equity and both move on that way.

You can see how much CM would be due by using the CMS calculator online. Also, your wife could use Entitled To website to look at what additional financial help she would be entitled to as a single parent.

justontime

You said partner rather than wife so I'm assuming you are not married.

You would only be expected to support your biological child.

There are different ways of owning a house jointly so it depends on how you own it, you need to get legal advice on this as you may need to make changes to protect yourself. Your partner doesn't have greater rights over the house than you and it may best for both of you to sell the property and find more affordable accommodation. You need to be as amicable as possible as you will jointly need to pay the mortgage until the house is sold (or another agreement is reached) otherwise it will damage your credit.