CMS - Additional money request from the ex

WYSPECIAL

Would you be happy to pay the extra?

If so tell your ex to close the CMS case and come to a private arrangement that suits you both.

If she doesn't want to let her have the assessed amount.

moomoomama27

No you should not be asked to pay! She gets enough to pay for school shoes, and uniform at £100 is very reasonable! I would question why she needs more from you!

My husbands ex is like this, he lays a hefty amount per month and still she asks for more, while going on 4-5 girly holidays abroad without the children!! He puts extra money in their accounts, not in her hand, she doesn't spend any of the maintenance on them, and as she claims full benefits, including rent and council tax, she's laughing until they leave home!

SerenityFire

We are in a similar situation. Pay monthly maintenance of £625 which does increase each year by approx £15 a month when pay rises are added in. We have a parental agreement so doesn't go through CMS - we also review the maintenance in line with any pay rise regardless of changes less than 25% of income. We also do all the travel (130 mile round trip) at our cost, this is not taken out of maintenance. We also provide all clothes/shoes etc at ours.

We are occasionally asked to provide extra. We were once asked to pay for a school trip which we said no to because maintenance is for that. However we will sometimes say yes. Examples include half of passport costs (because its mutually beneficial for holidays) and assisting with some extra curricular activities i.e. bits they need for clubs. However we don't contribute any more than half the amount and these tend to be low cost items.

We could say no to everything but sometimes it's just worth considering if your child will be limited because of that. In your case school shoes will be provided whether you say yes or no but if it was a trip/club they may not be able to go if you say no. I reckon we contribute no more than an extra £100 max a year for 2 children above maintenance levels but ultimately the children know we will help them out if needed whether or not we think their mum is receiving enough already.