50/50 care and CM

theironlady

My partner and i split up over 12 months ago now and my son stays with him 4 days on and 4 days off around his work shifts.
For the last twelve months we kept our joint bank account open whilst we paid off some joint debts. He now has a new partner and home and the bank account is closed .
He doesn’t agree that he should give me any money because my son is there half of the time but i’ve always paid for clothes for both homes , school trips etc 
I recently used the child maintenance calculator and even in light of the fact that he stays with him it tells me i’m entitled to £155 per month 
He begrudgingly agreed but has told me that i need to account for it buy buying all the clothes . Then last weekend he announced that my sons football fees were in arrears (booked by him) and that i would need to use this months payment to pay it!
Ive consulted a solicitor and she confirmed that i don’t need to account for the money and i don’t need to pay for clubs etc booked by him however she did question why i’m asking for a payment if the care is 50/50… is the calculator wrong?  Am i wrong for asking - im confused 

elsien

Even with 50/50 care maintenance may still be payable. And no, you absolutely do not have to account for it. 

Example here.
https://watson-thomas.co.uk/help-and-advice/31-help-and-advice-children/182-child-maintenance-when-you-have-an-equal-share-in-parenting

I would suggest though that it’s not unreasonable for him to have clothes for when your son is there, and also for him to pay for any activities that he has booked. 

Kim_13

He can refuse to buy any clothes if he pays the £155, but you do not have to provide receipts for the clothes that you buy.

The CMS will not allow the fact that he has paid for football fees to be offset against his maintence liability, but if you involve them you may find that he will not pay a penny towards them either, to either your detriment (if you continue with the football schedule as it is while covering 100% of the costs) or to your son's (if you then have to curtail his sessions because his father refuses to contribute toward them any longer.)

In short, £155 or any other assessed amount in view of a future change in circumstances is the amount after which he need not pay another penny (beyond the inevitable expenses while your son is in his care.) If half of the football fees paid by him total more than £155, it's not worth pursuing until such time as he does not cover extras to the amount that he would be assessed as needing to pay. Involving the CMS is also likely to create more of an atmosphere between you than there is already.