Child Support from ex partner... whats fair?

vik6525

Hiya! Im just after some ideas really.... How much should an ex partner be paying towards their child? We've got an 8 year old son, and he stays with his dad every weekend, saturday and sunday night...
Im just wondering how much everyone else gets really!!!

threesacrowd

i get around 45 pounds a week this is supposed to be paid monthly and attached to my exs earnings its always paid a month or two late though.
it has been 45 a week since my daughter was 3 and shes now 8

filigree_2

Based on CSA guidelines, I'd say about 10 - 11% of dad's take home salary. If he has other children elsewhere that he supports, knock a bit off. If he's the generous sort of ex who pays up for school trips, new shoes etc you might consider rounding the figures down a bit.

vik6525

Thing is... although we're on really good terms, I have NO idea how much he earns, and hes constantly pleading poverty...

Sola

We pay about 20% of DH's takehome pay for his 2 kids, plus he pays half for school trips, uniform, clothes, books etc.

Jet

I suggest you look at what your child costs you in clothing, food, outings, school trips etc. You can include an amount for housing as well. Then halve it and ask for that. I think that's a very fair way of looking at it rather than looking at what he earns and taking as much as you think you can get away with.

vik6525

Jet wrote: »

I suggest you look at what your child costs you in clothing, food, outings, school trips etc. You can include an amount for housing as well. Then halve it and ask for that. I think that's a very fair way of looking at it rather than looking at what he earns and taking as much as you think you can get away with.

Thats a really good idea....
Its not so much that i want to 'get as much as i can' so to speak, cause we're managing as it is...
Its just that obviously, the older our little un gets, the more he costs so to speak!!! And im starting to feel ive been a little bit of a pushover when it comes to money, and now im feeling the pinch a bit too much, if all that makes any sense!!

Jet

It's a really simple idea and it makes sense, I think. You could always show him how you worked out your figures and then that way when daughter starts costing more money you can go back and show revised figures.

I worked out child maintenance this way for my son - I asked for £80 a month when he was 4 years old. I got maintenance for 6 months and nothing since - he's 9 years old now. :mad: Perhaps trying to be fair just meant he saw me as a pushover. He's now "self employed" and "not able" to pay anything.

I suppose it depends on your ex and what sort of person he is, but I still think working out the actual cost is the fairest way of dealing with it.

vik6525

yeah, its a really good idea, thanks for that! thing is, he gives me £20 a week for the little one at the mo. And thats all. He doesnt go halves with me on school trips, clothes etc... Its just £20, no more no less....

Carmina_Piranha_3

i think the CSA says 15% of take home pay for one child, 20% for 2 kids and 25% for three kids, split between mums if he has kids with more than one mum.

my sis gets £300 per month for her two, she says he should be paying more and often asks him for money towards trips, swimming lessons etc. and tells him what he ought to buy them for birthdays and christmas, or asks him to go halves with her on bikes etc. he pays more than many dads, it's based on his earnings though.

i think the dad can pay a 7th less as long as he has the child for at least one night a week. if you're working it out between yourselves rather than the CSA i suppose you might want to take two 7ths off it. but you don't know his income so i'm just waffling lol!

if he pays on time all the time, looks after his won well and you get on okay you might not want to rock the boat, up to you. £20 per week does sound like a small amount to me but it's the same as my friend is supposed to get off her ex, i think he's on minimum wage. he doesn't always pay it, and he doesn't look after her very often.

Acehole_2

lol i think I am being stroked then !!I give my ex-wife 400 squid a month now, was 700 for last 4 years for my 2 boys, I also pay for clothes, trips, toys etc, I also have them with me on monday , wednesday nights and every other weekend.Me thinks I should get some back pay from her listening to you people. And no I dont earn lots of money I come out with 1500 a month and have my own mortgage now to pay.