Consent order/clean break, are there any gotchas?

manysaver

Basically I've moved overseas, just a small amount of cash to divide, most will go to STBXW, one child aged 12 to provide for. My income is low because of the cost of living where I live, and her income in the UK is also very low.

I want to draw up a consent order saying that that's the end of that, clean break, no maintenance, etc.

Is that something that would be accepted?

jackieblack

In order for the consent order to be legally binding it would have to be approved by the court. This can’t be done until the Decree Nisi has been issued and, once approved by the court, becomes legally binding once the Decree Absolute has been issued.

In order for the CO to be approved, the judge will want to see that both parties have had legal advice and that it is fair to both parties (although there is some flexibility for the definition of fair).

https://www.gov.uk/money-property-when-relationship-ends/apply-for-consent-order

Accountant_Kerry

you cant get out of paying child maintenance if that's what you mean

manysaver

no I don't mean that. as I understand it child maintenance is statutory and on my income is £7/week.

what I mean is that is there no requirement for the consent order to mention maintenance?

in other words the consent order discharges all spousal maintenance as 0 and doesn't need to cover child maintenance as it's a statutory obligation

elsien

Maintenance is very rarely on the agenda nowadays anyway, and on the rare occasions it is agreed, it is likely to be time limited.
If your child is 12 there would be an expectation that your ex look for works to keep herself unless there are other circumstances such as the child having disabilities.

Accountant_Kerry

agreed spousal maintenance is very rare.

Is your income low or your disposable income low?

In reality do you think £7 a week is a large enough contribution to the upbringing of your child?

LilElvis

manysaver wrote: »

no I don't mean that. as I understand it child maintenance is statutory and on my income is £7/week.

what I mean is that is there no requirement for the consent order to mention maintenance?

in other words the consent order discharges all spousal maintenance as 0 and doesn't need to cover child maintenance as it's a statutory obligation

If that is all you are going to be contributing towards your child's upbringing for the next six years then, in my view, you should give your ex all of the "small amount of cash" that you jointly have.

£7 is less than three days of school hot meals per week, less than I spend on my daughter's fruit and wouldn't even keep them in decent shoes for the year.

Blackpool_Saver

manysaver wrote: »

My income is low because of the cost of living where I live, and her income in the UK is also very low.

You lost me there, why would your income be low due to the cost of living, do you mean your surplus after cost of living?
I would like to hear your reasoning behind the 7 pounds week, to give you a fair chance to explain....

manysaver

You lost me there, why would your income be low due to the cost of living, do you mean your surplus after cost of living?
I would like to hear your reasoning behind the 7 pounds week, to give you a fair chance to explain....

£7 a week is the legal minimum for anyone earning between £7 and £100 per week.

whether or not I pay more than that in reality is not really what I'm addressing here, I was clarifying that I wasn't trying to avoid a legal obligation to pay child maintenance, since child maintenance is a percentage of income or a minimum of £7/week and it applies equally whether or not you are married

the point about cost of living was that the cost of living is lower and so even a small income in £ terms is enough to live on - no rent, no tax, a simple meal in a cafe costs 50p to £1 etc.

manysaver

If that is all you are going to be contributing towards your child's upbringing for the next six years then, in my view, you should give your ex all of the "small amount of cash" that you jointly have.

£7 is less than three days of school hot meals per week, less than I spend on my daughter's fruit and wouldn't even keep them in decent shoes for the year.

I think you are doing something wrong if you are spending more than £7/week on shoes.

As I understand it, it would be mutually beneficial NOT to give the stbxw all the cash because capital will affect her entitlement to benefits. It would instead be better for me to keep some of it and then pay her maintenance if and when she needs it, since such maintenance would not affect her benefits entitlement.

But I might be wrong if I am supposed to be leaving myself penniless and allowing the X to potentially p*** things up the wall and then have no way to help

I don't think there's anything wrong with my thinking just forgive me if I don't go into too much detail, but suffice to say the stbx doesn't know much about fiscal responsibility!

Blackpool_Saver

manysaver wrote: »

I was clarifying that I wasn't trying to avoid a legal obligation to pay child maintenance, since child maintenance is a percentage of income or a minimum of £7/week and it applies equally whether or not you are married

Yes you are.
You are also trying to justify it.
A legal minimum and what you should do are very different things.