Maintenance variations

Krissy227

Hi there, hoping someone can advise. 
My ex tells me how much he is paying me for his son. 
He started @ 75 a week, then 65 a week. Now says he is paying 54 a week as this is what he calculates on csa.
I feel like he is paying the bare minimum he can.
Does anyone know how much savings variations affect the amount given?
He has our child 2 nights a week.
I know he earns around 560 per week
Has at least 40,000 savings for house deposit. 
Thanks in advance.

tacpot12

Savings do not affect the calculation of Child Maintenance Payments. Based on the information you have provided, £54 per week is about right. He is paying the bare minimum that the CSA require him to. They will not force him to pay more unless you have information about earned income that he receives but is not declaring. 

The best thing I can suggest is that you think about what you need more money for and explain this to you ex so that they can see if they want to give you more money for those things. If they directly benefit his son, he may consider doing so. You might get further if you shared your budget  so that he can see how little £54/week is contributing towards the costs that his son has.  

Krissy227

Thanks for your reply, I phoned the child maintenance advise team and they said something about  applying for  a variation thing and that savings were now taken into account.But said each case would be assessed differently 🤦‍♀️  Just wanted to know if it was worthwhile going through all the hassle.

tacpot12

I think that it would be worth trying to approach your ex with some explanation as to why you need more money. If they don't accept that you do need more and that they can pay more, you can always try the CMS.

 It's difficult to know whether it will be worth the hassle. Some fathers can be adept at hiding their income and savings, so you may just make things difficult without  acheiving any better financial result - only you can decide if you are prepared to try that route.  

Thrugelmir

Has your ex been furloughed over recent times? 

poppy12345

He has your child for 2 nights a week so the £54 he pays you is for the 5 nights you have your child. Seems reasonable to me.

kirkellababe

What evidence should I get prior to going to court tribunal as my ex said he has our son over 104 nights a year but I know he hasnt.  How do I prove he hasnt had him more than 103 nights

superbigal

kirkellababe said:

What evidence should I get prior to going to court tribunal as my ex said he has our son over 104 nights a year but I know he hasnt.  How do I prove he hasnt had him more than 103 nights

You yourself said he has him 2 nights a week.  Well 52 x 2 = 104

poppy12345

superbigal said:

kirkellababe said:

What evidence should I get prior to going to court tribunal as my ex said he has our son over 104 nights a year but I know he hasnt.  How do I prove he hasnt had him more than 103 nights

You yourself said he has him 2 nights a week.  Well 52 x 2 = 104

It's not the same person as the OP... i also had to look twice. It does get confusing when people ask questions on other peoples threads.

tightauldgit

Krissy227 said:

Hi there, hoping someone can advise. 
My ex tells me how much he is paying me for his son. 
He started @ 75 a week, then 65 a week. Now says he is paying 54 a week as this is what he calculates on csa.
I feel like he is paying the bare minimum he can.
Does anyone know how much savings variations affect the amount given?
He has our child 2 nights a week.
I know he earns around 560 per week
Has at least 40,000 savings for house deposit. 
Thanks in advance.

First off if you aren't happy with the arrangement you can make a claim with CMS yourself rather than letting him tell you what you are going to get. if he's only paying the bare minimum the CMS would award you then you have nothing to lose by doing so. 

My understanding is that savings aren't considered in CMS payments (INCOME from savings might be but that's likely to be very low these days unless he's sitting on millions) 

Tbh £50 odd quick a week from 560/week earnings sounds more or less about right. You can plug the number into the CSA calculator yourself.

tightauldgit

kirkellababe said:

What evidence should I get prior to going to court tribunal as my ex said he has our son over 104 nights a year but I know he hasnt.  How do I prove he hasnt had him more than 103 nights

Do you have a court order showing living arrangements? Or any communications with him where it was agreed? 

From the horse's mouth I was told by CMS that absent a court order or solid evidence to the contrary they take the claiming parents word for how many nights a week they spend where. Not sure what a tribunal requires exactly but any evidence you have will help.