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Hi Everyone
I'm sorry if this is a repeat post, my previous one didn't seem to work.
My son is leaving the army this week as he's decided it's not for him. My ex is demanding that I start paying maintenance again. We had a private agreement previously.
My son is 17 (18 in march) and is leaving army training. He's no longer in the education system and is looking for a new job in the summer. My thoughts are that I don't have to start paying again and although I can if I choose too, i fear that any change will not be conveyed to me (as I have no contact or see him) and once started it will be difficult to stop the payments again.
Any help or advice on this would be appreciated
I would suggest that you calculate what you would pay monthly under CMS and put that into a savings account each month, and tell your ex to open a case under CMS - if she does so, and you are liable, then you have the money to cover the arrears, if not, then the money is yours to do as you wish.
Thank you for your reply.
I was going to do that to make sure I had the funds if I did need to start paying again.
I just don't know how to go.back to my ex about this as communication is not great at the best of times and I don't believe I should be paying anymore with the situation I described. I'm reluctant to get the CMS involved as we've always had a private agreement in place.
With my situation described in my original post, can anyone give their opinion if they think I should be paying again?
Many thanks
If he's not going back into education, then I don't think you are obliged to pay maintenance. I suppose the question is whether you think your ex will get CMS involved if you don't voluntarily pay, and also whether you are happy to pay maintenance because your ex still has to support him with food and a place to live.
What you could do, if you are happy to do so, is to suggest that you pay your son directly, instead of maintenance, until he reaches age 18 (or better still, save the money and give it to him as a lump sum on his birthday).
Otherwise, it's really up to you as to whether you pay voluntarily or whether your ex has the grounds to open a case with CMS
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