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Hi all,
Just after a bit of advice, I divorced a few years ago and me and my ex have 50/50 custody of our son. She used to claim child benefit to cover her child care on the days she has him, but since had a bumper pay rise (150K per year) so is no longer entitled to benefit
I myself only earn 25K but have moved in with my partner who is on 55K, the issue is on the days my ex has him on a tuesday/thursday, she pays a child minder as she can work late, as my ex no longer receives the "benefit" money in which was used to pay the child minder she has demanded I pay half of this fee even though she is on 6x my wage. I myself arrange my own childcare through friends on family on a monday/wednesday/friday so there are no payments there.
Is she in the right that despite being on 6x my wage she can demand i pay half her child care on the days she looks after my son?
In fact, as its 50/50 split am I entitled to child maintenance from her?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
If it's a true 50/50, then neither of you should pay the other child maintenance. You have the option to open a case with CMS in which case they will assess liability (but if they find she has more time, then this could go against you) and you pay nothing else. Have you considered arranging with your ex whether you could claim the child benefit, and then possibly give her some of this towards the child maintenance.
However, unless a court has ordered otherwise (and that would have been resolved as part of the divorce usually), you are under no obligation to pay towards childcare when she has your son, that is her responsibility.
@actd hi jumping on post. What would the court order need to say as way of proof of 50/50, that satisfies CSA and stops payments, Is it ‘ both parents have equal day to day care’ ? how do you get Judge to quote this on court order ? Thanks
@actd I thought that was the case, I arrange my own childcare during my time so thought she should do the same.
In regards to the benefit, I did try to do this, however as I live with my new partner who goes above the threshold (when she gets bonuses) we wouldn't get anything back.
Can confirm it is an exact 50/50 split.
I will always have a Monday/Wednesday, she has a Tuesday/Thursday and then we do one week each of the Friday / Saturday / Sunday.
@warhammer Hi, if you could get an order that states children live with both parents, and there is equal day-day care between both parents. that should be sufficient for CMS to decide that there is no maintenance to pay for either parent. however I have come across many cases where parents are still arguing with CMS to take their court order into account.
If you can argue with CMS that you have more childcare than your ex, with her level of income, she's actually going to be paying you quite a bit in child maintenance. Now I'm not suggesting for a moment that you would actually achieve that result, but perhaps the hint that you would do this might be enough for your ex to reconsider her claim on condition you don't persue it.
The other option you have is to do nothing and not pay her - the question is what would she do? She has the option to try to open a case with CMS also - bear in mind that your new partner's income isn't taken into account, so it's only on yours. In which case, if she opened a case with CMS and it was decided that you need to pay her maintenance, firstly you argue that it's not the case (and you could try arguing, as above, that you are the main carer), but if it went against you, would the assessed amount be less than she is asking you for with regards to child care?
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