[Solved] Child maintenance

I don't believe they do reveal this, certainly they didn't used to in the days of the CSA, they simply gave the calculated figure, which you can work back to a gross, but that is after pension deduction.

If she goes for a variation, you may have to reveal more detail in that case.

However, if you are putting a large (but legal) amount aside for pension, if she does find out how much, that information is going to annoy her far more than you.

I agree, certain that she only gets the figure and not the detail, as this would be private, any subsequent action, you may be bound by disclosure rules, to state the amount of pension contributions, but a robust initial challenge, based on the internal documentation that the CMS need to work to, would hopefully stop any such action at the first hurdle, on the argument that it was clearly going to fail

In all of this, as I said previously, life has to go on, you have to prepare for your retirement, the government push that down your throat, hence the tax position

From my own assessments they state the weekly amount of income that the assessment has been made on. There is no further breakdown.

So it will say award based on £600 per week (equates to annual £32,600).

This is assumed to be if your pension is paid directly from your salary. I believe it is the same if you pay your pension from your personal account, but in this case you have to inform CMS what your pension payments are and have these agreed and deducted from your gross payment.

So I believe in either case she should not see a breakdown of your earnings, just the net amount the assessment is made on.

I did this for a promotion myself

Remember the 25% isn't applied to your whole income but a part of it, you are allowed to protect it where you can

Your ex is only told what your payment is, nothing else, don't tell anyone what you're doing, i know we feel bad but that's society for you.

So anyways as long as you're below 25% all is good, just watch out for CMO interference as they may try and make it work, you're paperwork shows the increase already yes and also the increased contribution yes? should be fine as i didnt have my pension on the last payslip and had to delay!

She could apply for a variance etc etc but so long as she is receiving a reasonable amount from you already that's going nowhere

No i didnt feel bad as i need to protect me as no one else is!

Let us know how you get on

good advice Mercury Dad, my feelings are exactly the same, even us non-resident parents need to make provision for when we retire, we do not get the benefits etc that the ex can get, in my case, over £8K per year in CMS payments, (due to crazy calculation system the CMS use) but these are not taken into account. so she got that, the child benefit and FTC, still told me and our son what a no good person I was and needed more money

The 25% rule is there to be used, if you come up against it, circumstances change and so does your provision for your retirement, life has to go on, even after a split

I have made sure my pay slips show the "gross taxable salary" that is what the CMS see, as soon your are paid, they may drag their heels in recalculating, but I am assured it is backdated

My pension contributions are 45%, in line with the internal guidance documents the CMS use, based on my age and how long I have been paying into my pension, I am prepared for a fight with the case worker, but the facts and case law speak for themselves

will update how I get on

It’s been an interesting subject with some great advice, so helpful.
What I’m looking at is I’ve been promoted, and my salary will increase sustainability from the 1 March ( by 34% ), and also my annual reassessment will be due anytime this month.
I currently pay 6% pension, but quite naturally I would like to increase this especially with such a big increase in my salary. I worked out that I would have to increase my pension contributions from the 6% to around 17%, so there isn’t more than a 25% difference from the previous years income after pension contributions, which in turn wouldn’t trigger an assessment which would see my payments increase.

One thing I will say about the CMS - to be fair they have been ok with me. A couple of years ago I changed jobs just after my annual review, and I was on less money from the previous year. It was something silly like 23% less, slightly below the 25% that would trigger a re assessment. Anyway, what I did was to increase my pension contributions with my new employer to bring me over the - 25%.
I went from paying 6% to 15% to make sure I could get it lower for the 25%.
I didn’t say out loud to the case worker that’s what I was doing, it may of seemed obvious that I increased my contributions just to get me over that line. What I had to do was to provide a few months pay slips after I started the new job and all was ok. I did do this for the rest of the year

It may sound wrong to some, but it was sickening to think I would be paying my ex £170 extra a month based on a previous year’s salary when I was earning a lot less. And to be just under the 25% lower limit! It was almost £7,000 less per year I was earning so doesn’t feel right.

The 25% is to high, especially if you end up say taking a new job and you earn a lot less, but just above the lower threshold, it could be 1,000s less per year

could someone help me out, i earn 44k a year. i pay no pension contribution, never have really.
i have to pay child maintenance and with paying a mortgage things are going to get very tough for me. i would like to pay into a pension now as i need to think of my pension and retirement also. if this means paying less CMS so be it.
how much pension contribution should i aim to pay from my 44k salary?

Vik2001, so you are 44 and not paying into a pension, so the CMS will tell you that the acceptable percentage is 12%, but they will not explain the full position here, there are two legal cases which deal with the specific issue of diversion of income, under S71 the directions of the judge are clear

I am really put out by the number of non-resident parents that feel by increasing their pension contributions, (within the allowed limits) are somehow trying to get around the system, people split up, it is a fact of and life goes on, pay for the children, but you also need to make provision for later life

the CMS case worker will be dealing with such a request on laid down process (freedom of information request covers this) do you meet the criteria as detailed in the FSA scale of required percentage of income to meet your pension, on the basis you look to retire at 65-67, so age 40 is 18-25%, not sure when you are 45 but the percentage is 25-30%

if the CMS dispute, throw this at them, there is also a calculation they use, that is acceptable for you to pay, assuming your expected pension, go onto any of the on line pension calculators, put in say 50% of present salary for pension, your payments and in almost all cases, you will be short of this, which is a further reason for the increased pension

the judge also made clear that the following also needs taking into account, age parent, age they wish to retire, any professional advice on amount of pension contributions they should be making and any health issues that may force an earlier retirement

this would deal with any application for a variation order from your ex

Hello Vik2001

I’ve been wondering the same, in regards to my pension.
I’m going to get a raise soon which would buy me around the same as you in terms of salary.
On that basis I plan to contribute 19% to my pension, with my employer paying 6% on top of that.

To be aware that you won’t get an instant reduction from child support if you started paying into a pension now, you would have to wait until your annual review, they won’t adjust between reviews unless you have a + or - of 25%, which you can have a re assessment.
Perhaps if you started paying 25% or more into your pension now to justify the re assessment? I don’t know if that would work?

You have to make sure you can afford it also? You could pay x amount toward your pension and leave yourself short.
The way I look at it for say £100 I pay to my pension, £19 less goes to my ex. I have to sacrifice a large part of my income to make that reduction.

Absolutely agree on the affordability point, but you will get tax relief on the contributions and this is for the future

I also will always pay for my son, even though toxic ex has stopped me seeing him after 10 years with no issues, this gets her another £100 per month, obvious why she has done it and further proof the whole calculation system is wrong

I have paid as much as £705 and now £540 per month, she has a new car, buying a big new house, holidays, (don't worry I am way past the bitterness stage, but these are facts) my son see's little of the money but these are the rules and I earn nothing like the CMS calculate

So 4 years left to pay, I have given back the company car, saves me the £10K BIK and her percentage for something I never see and taking the car allowance, I know taxed and she gets her part, but at least I now see the money

I will live a very frugal life for next 4 years, with my amazing partner, reduced my salary by pension contributions to less than £45K, with the tax benefit and saving circa £250 per month on payments, I am not actually that worse off and my ex still gets circa £300 for one child, surely enough????

man everyones story is rough. i havnt got around to paying maintenance as im still awaiting for fact finding trial. but i know its on the cards to come as shes mentioned it already.
i just know its going to be a struggle for me to live with paying a mortgage as im going to have to buy a new place once we sell our current house.
if i pay to much into my pension im going to be left with less money end of month, which is also a real issue for me. feel stuck.
the ex made me decorate the house out of my own funds before she left, i didnt know she went till she told me over the phone complete shock. i feel like a mug re-decorating the house knowing now she was planning to live , and using it to increase the resell value. do you guys think she will be able to take more than 50/50 of the house?

Hi Vik

Are you married to ex? If so then the split of assets if you both cannot agree will be down to the courts and it can be anything really although as you have a son then more likely to favour your ex. The family courts have all sorts of powers!

If you were not married then should be 50.50 split.

The more you can informally agree with the ex the better. So house, finances, child contact etc.

Re your financial situation, unfortunately this is the reality of splitting up and paying CMS. The impact it has on overall finances isn't considered. Many on this forum have given up well paying jobs just to ease the pressure or even gone onto Universal Credit for a period of time to force a reassessment etc.

Whatever you do, brush up on the legalities, the process etc so that you have the knowledge required to navigate the system and don't get screwed by it.

All the best.