Complicated child maintenance situation

SusieT

I would just put it away in the highest interest account as possible, that allows you to withdraw x amount each month. Then pay it to your wife as maintenance. I would suspect that if you have been paying maintenance the official receiver will want to know why it stops just before the bankruptcy if you try to do anything else.
If you have a good broker they will see that you have an account with £x in it to cover maintenance until it is no longer payable, and savings for the deposit, so there should be no problems with affordability for the mortgage.

TheGardener

If there is no court order then you could stop whenever you want - the OR can do nothing about that. If a child is over 16 and the money is intended for the child then pay the child. It's up the ex to make it clear to the child what they would now be expected to pay for themselves now they have the money.
My ex wouldn't pay me a bean but was happy to pay the child, so the child paid their own college bus pass, dinner money, study supplies and clothes etc out of the payment from the other parent - rather than me. It made no real difference to the household income/outgoings. As an added bonus the child learned early on to live within their means as I would not subsidise if the money ran out before the end of the month (3 days walking 2 miles to college in the rain was an excellent lesson in not spending all your bus fare at the make-up counter :rotfl:).