Child Maintenance Query

ian1246

Hi Guys.
           Myself and Wife are unfortunately in the early stages of a divorce - she left last Thursday, no opportunity for reconciliation. We have a 2 yea old son. She's seeking legal advice on the 27th July and I'll also be getting my own advice.

We met this Tuesday to discuss childcare & finances. 

We've agreed to split the £8000 in savings 50/50. We've also agreed to split the equity we have in our house 50/50 - after Estate Agent & Solicitor Fee, any early repayment charge on the mortgage and 2 personal loans taken out (total £8800) solely in my name for the house (1 for Carpets on finance & the other for Solar Panels) are deducted first from the equity. 

In terms of Pension, she has around £12k in Pots and a further £1,200 annual pension accrued with the council. I have 8.5 years of Police Pension accrued - I'm aware this will also need to be split.

In terms of the childcare arrangements we have agreed a 2weekly pattern - Week 1 I have him 7pm Saturday through to Wednesday Morning (4 Nights), Week 2 I have him 9am Sunday through to Wednesday Morning (3 Nights) - so 50/50 care.

My Query is how to work out what CMA I need to provide.

My basic earnings are £43,030, minus £5783.52 annual pension contributions - so a £37,246 basic figure after pension. That gives a bottom figure of £155.26 a month to pay her.

However, in the last 12months I have earnt £7,188 in additional overtime/unsocial hour payments - but this can fluctuate widely month-on month, due to the demands of the job. For example: In January 2023 I had £1293 in Overtime/Unsocial hours. By comparison, in July 2023 I'll have only earnt £147 in overtime/unsocial hours payment.

I was wondering how best to go about working how much CMA to pay each month - my thoughts were I have my payslip for the end of the month by around the 12th of each month, when I receive the payslip I'll stick the Gross figure (minus pension) into the CMA calculator and pay the amount it states. If needs be I can sent her a redacted payslip each month so she can see gross pay & pension, so she will know I'm not short changing her.

My estranged wife currently earns £13,586 - she is increasing her hours to pick up another day in August, so that will likely rise to £18,016 a year and she has also mentioned picking up a 5th day in September - taking her wages to probably around £22,447.

One thing we have discussed is perhaps her receiving more of my pension in exchange for me getting the equity from the house - otherwise this is likely to rule her out of any support from the state (universal credit) given 50% of the equity is probably going to be around the £45,000.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

Ian

jlfrs01

Hi Ian,

Sorry to hear about your separation, I can certainly empathise having been there myself but at least you and your wife appear to be on amicable terms and are able to discuss the practicalities of moving on with your lives and your obligations to each other and your son.

When it comes to Child Maintenance, the government has a handy calculator which I used as the basis for the payments I made - it's here: https://www.gov.uk/calculate-child-maintenance

There is also a very comprehensive guide on the website which covers how the law approaches separations and divorces, it's long but worth a read for both of you.

You may want to agree between yourselves what is covered under the maintenance payments and what isn't, for example holidays, Toddler Group, birthday/Christmas presents and looking forward, school trips, school uniforms, etc. Those things may be something you split 50:50 for example.

Both your Solicitors will argue for a better deal (if you let them) which apart from being very stressful just drags the whole thing out and becomes very expensive for you both. 

In my case, my ex-wife and I nailed down the finances tight before seeing a Solicitor, then it was merely a case of having a consent order drawn up which put everything in law via the Courts. You can pretty much decide how you want to do it, be it an assignment of a pension, an equity split in the property or savings and transfer of assets, such as a car for example. The crucial thing is it must be a reasonable settlement for the Court to pass it through, so it is good to read up on the Government's advice but it starts at 50:50 and then the ratios change depending on the length of the marriage, ages of the children, assets and so on. Property is the biggest thing but the law states that each parent has the right to a home which is suitable for any children to live at as it is their welfare which the Court will prioritize.

In terms of the Divorce, I did it online, it cost £550 back then and took around 4 months before the Decree Absolute was granted so that's another figure to consider as well.

With Child Maintenance, should circumstances change it can be reviewed by the DWP at any time, should 1 parent thinks it's unreasonable for whatever reason or there's a change in jobs which means a lower income. The consent order is a rubber stamping exercise for an agreement which both parents make, there is no need to involve Solicitors if a change is required, it's for the DWP to review.

Hope this helps - best of luck!
Jon

poppy12345

ian1246 said:

One thing we have discussed is perhaps her receiving more of my pension in exchange for me getting the equity from the house - otherwise this is likely to rule her out of any support from the state (universal credit) given 50% of the equity is probably going to be around the £45,000.

For UC purposes if she's not going to be living in the house then the equity will be counted as capital, even if you have this agreement. She can't just give away her capital and then claim a means tested benefit because she will still be classed as having that capital.

If she'll be living in the house then it's disregarded anyway.

ian1246

Thank you for the feedback guys. Lots to think about. I am seeing a Solicitor tomorrow -I think mainly to take advice from them on what "reasonable" will look like in the courts mind. We've agreed in principle to splitting everything 50/50 - but my worry is due to the gap in my income vs. hers (my take home income, after paying child maintenance, will be £2157 a month, whilst hers with child benefit & child maintenance included will only be £1600 - not factoring in any help from the state), whether I will actually realistically get 50% of the equity, or whether she'll have the lions share (or all of it) due to the differences in income - I've heard some horror stories from colleagues....

Just doesn't seem fair if it is the case though (i'll work 40+ hours a week whilst she'll be choosing to only work 31hours - despite us splitting having our son 50/50 and splitting the childcare bill 50/50 - if she worked 5 days a week as well she'd have a take home of £1850 a month with everything included, but no state help)