How much?

mummytofour

Hi,
My ex works 5 hours a week. He is not claiming any benefits as he had 113 k in inheritance last year and 25k from the family house sale. He has the children two nights a week and pays £55 a per total for 4 children. I'm a single parent, three of the children have Autism so I'm a full time carer. I pay for everything for them although ex will on occasion pay half for something like new clothes. When I check the CS calculator because he works 5 hours a week, he basically has to pay less than he is paying.. I know that there are special rules for over 65k but don't know what they are.

I feel £55 a week is pathetic in his situation, this was what he paid when he was working full time and on a low income. I have spoken to him and he does not feel he should pay more because he has them 2 nights a week. Three of the children have ASD and the associated costs are very high, I don't get Dla for all of them. Currently one child is not in school and his very minimal education is over £100 a week (that's another fight). Would I be entitled to more than £55 per week and if so how would I go about this?

Thank you

HoneyNutLoop

The short answer is no, you would not be entitled to more through the CMS based on the info you've shared. You would likely get much less.

The long answer:
Variations have changed under the latest child maintenance scheme. The assets ground is no more - it has been replaced with the unearned income ground. The threshold is £2500 per annum unearned income before a variation is considered. In the situation you describe, you're talking about the interest earned on the capital being more than £2500 in the last tax year.

Interest rates being what they are, I wouldn't bet your £55 a week on him earning £2500 per year interest on that level of capital.

What is his hourly rate for his 5 hours?

£55 a week for 4 children with 2 nights shared care gives an equivalent gross taxable pay of approx. £405.

Say he is getting £2500 in interest a year, that's income of approx £48 a week. So, he would need to be earning £357 a week from his 5 hours work for you to get a £55 a week calculation. If he's earning less than £71.00 an hour, you'll get less.

If he's on minimum wage, you'd likely get £7 a week even with the interest on the capital being taken into account.