Not paying child maintenance

aa28

Hello,

My ex and I separated when my son was little over a year old (he's now 7).

In the first few years I took care of him almost exclusively (~5 nights a week) but since he started school full time my ex and I changed the arrangement for Thursday's - Sunday's, which has been fair for both of us ever since.

We have never agreed on any child support mainly due to me having him almost exclusively when he was younger.

There has also been a sort of unwritten rule that I pay for all of the "non daily" costs; uniform, cloths, trips, school lunches, swimming/karate lessons, dentist, opticians etc (which naturally I'm happy to continue doing).

My question is; since we've never made a formal agreement, is there a chance that my ex could request child maintenance at any time that could lead to a large sum due to the back log?

If this is the case, what are my options moving forward?

Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

(P.S my ex and I are on good terms and I don't see this actually happening, but I feel it's probably wise to think about all the possible scenarios)

DUTR

CM is only due from when a case is open, there is no back log.

aa28

Thanks for the reply @DUTR, I'm naive on the processes of CM but I always assumed if a case was opened later on then there could be a potential for back payments?

DUTR

aa28 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply @DUTR, I'm naive on the processes of CM but I always assumed if a case was opened later on then there could be a potential for back payments?

In the case of a CSA, the back log is one week, as it is paid in arrears, however, you won't have years of payments to make unless you missed years of payment once a case was opened.
Some are wise and don't bother opening a case as it can 'backfire' on them.
You are already contributing from your opening post , some things money cannot buy and your contribution maybe worth more than the CM contribution.

aa28

That's very eye opening, thanks for the input @DUTR it's very much appreciated