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Hi All, I'm trying to find out if I still need to pay child maintenance for my son, who is 19 while he is living and working in America.
I assume that as he is not living with his mum, that I would not have to pay as she is not spending the money on him. he is currently in full time education and is going to be working in America for 10 weeks, he gets paid, and free accommodation with a local family.
Also, when my ex wife goes away, both our children spend more time with me, should I be paying less, as my ex is not looking after them, and all my expenses are higher while she is away.
At the moment we have a good relationship when it come to the children, and I would like to see how I stand before speaking to her about this.
Thank you.
Hi there
Do you have an informal or private family arrangement, or are payments throughthe CSA/CMS?
If its informal its up to you and your ex to negotiate payments and its fair to ask about a reduction when hes not at home for such a long time. Bear in mind though, her household bills arent reduced, apart from her food bill... and the payments may contribute to these.
If your payments are via the CSA/CMS its a different matter and if the mother is continuing to claim child benefit, they will expect the same payment to continue.
As far as the children spending more time with you, it would have to amount to at least an extra 52 nights a year before a further reduction could be made with CSA/CMS. Again though, if your agreement is between yourselves, this is something that you could negotiate on.
Best of luck
Thanks for the reply. We have a private agreement.
Hello DW
Child maintenance is generally paid until a child reaches 16 years old, or until they reach 20 years old if they are in full-time, non-advanced education (12 hours or more per week of classroom study at A-level equivalent or below). As a general rule maintenance is expected to be paid while ever the child is eligible for Child Benefit. When a child leaves full-time education in the summer, Child Benefit generally continues until the first week of September, which is usually when the maintenance also stops.
Although the information provided above is based on child support legislation, as you and your ex-wife currently have a family-based arrangement in place, it is entirely down to the two of you to agree on when payments end. As this type of agreement is not legally binding, there are no set rules to follow, therefore, it is also up to you and your ex-wife to decide whether payments are affected when your ex-wife is away.
Following the Government’s guidelines, if an application was made to the Child Maintenance Service (the Government’s statutory maintenance service), they would take into account the amount of overnight contact you have with your children over the year, in order to provide a consistent amount which is payable the same each week or month.
In order to gain an estimated amount of child maintenance to be paid, you may find the Online calculator useful, which can be found on the Child Maintenance Options website, as it provides an estimation along the Government’s guidelines of the maintenance payable, based on your income. The figure provides is not set in stone, however, it can be useful when negotiating payments.
For a more personalised response, you may wish to contact Child Maintenance Options directly at http://www.cmoptions.org.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a website, 'Sorting out Separation'. It aims to make it much easier for separating and separated parents (and childless couples) to find the support they need, when and where they need it, and encourages them to collaborate on a range of issues. The link is https://www.sortingoutseparation.org.uk/.
Regards
William
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