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I was hoping for a little advice re child support payments.
We (my partner, specifically) are paying £1000 per month for child maintenance for two children (plus £350 per month spousal maintenance). The two children stay with us 2-3 nights per week and half of all of the holidays.
My partner and I now have a new baby and my understanding is that, as my partner now has another dependent, the child maintenance payment will go down a little to allow for this. However my partners salary has gone up since the divorce which is when the child maintenance payment amounts were calculated. Using the calculator on the government website, due to this salary increase, the payments are coming out very similar to what we are already paying.
Even though he has another child now, does this mean his payments will not go down? The calculator seems to be quite a generalised crude way of calculating the payment amounts so I’m not sure if this is what we are supposed to rely on.
When child 1 turns 18, I also assumed there would be a reduction in payments but if my partners salary has gone up, is this again not the case?
id love any advice!
hi,
does your partner pay his ex through the child maintenance service? yes under their rules, if your partner has another child living with him/who he supports, then child maintenance payments reduce. But I wouldn't expect a big reduction. the calculator site is a rough guide. if your partners income increase or decreases by 25% or more at any point in the year, then the maintenance is recalculated. this is under CMS rules.
@bill337 Thank you for replying. It was all calculated during the divorce by the solicitor but I’m not sure if this means it was done via the CMS.
the salary hasn’t increased by as much as 25% but if it has increased and I use the calculator, it comes out the same - ie the increase in salary balances the reduction in payment for the additional dependent. Is that right that we don’t get to lower the payments due to his salary increase?
hi,
if the CMS are sending him letters each year that contain a payment plan then he must be paying through them. the way the CMS system works is the paying parent pays more maintenance if his income increases by way of bonus/over-time/pay rise.
@dad12345 If it was calculated during the divorce it means there is a consent order so it won't change if his salary increases or he has additional dependants unless it is specified in the order. in any case, after a year of the date of the other, either party can open a case with the CMS. The court has no jurisdiction over child maintenance payments unless your partner earns more than 156k a year. The CMS will base their calculation in your partner latest p60.
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