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Dear friends,
I am at the beginning of divorce negotiations and need your help for few basic topics.
I live in the UK, but my ex wife is moving with our 3 kids to Germany! Child maintenance payments are calculated very different in these two countries most probably because of cost of life- mostly rent. She's asking for the German calculated maintenance of 950 Euro! If I paid that sum each month I simply cannot survive in London, I would be left with just 1000 British Pounds (GBP) and my rent alone is 800 GBP! Travel cost is another 180 GBP! If I was to pay maintenance according to the UK law it would be 370 GBP = 420 Euro.
Can I argue in the German court that I can only survive myself when paying as calculated here in the UK?
Also- I would like to fly and see my children every other weekend- and this will cost me at least 400 Euro each month. can I ask to deduct the travel cost from the child maintenance payments?
The decision to move to Germany is hers, I can agree to that only if I can still see my children.
Many thanks for your help!!!
I really appreciate that
Hi there
The financial side of things isn't my area of knowledge, but helpfully we had a thread about this a couple of years ago, so I've copied and pasted the link to the whole thread, where you'll find some links to further information about your current situation.
https://www.dad.info/forum/child-maintenance/47216-uk-german-child-maintenance-advice-please
Hope that helps.
Hello Nirolondon
You do have different options that you can consider regarding your maintenance payments for your children. If you wish to follow the UK Government’s guidelines when calculating child maintenance, it would be based on your gross income, which is income before Income Tax and National Insurance are taken off, but after occupational or personal pension scheme contributions are taken away.
Many parents in your position do choose to sort out their maintenance between themselves as it can be the quickest and easiest way of setting up a maintenance agreement. Although family-based arrangements are not legally binding, they are very flexible and can be easily changed.
As you have a great deal of flexibility within a family-based arrangement, this type of agreement may benefit you both. You can easily incorporate your travel costs into your agreement when you travel to see your children in Germany.
For assistance with reaching, and maintaining, an effective family-based arrangement, you may wish to take a look at the tools and guides available on the Child Maintenance Options website at www.cmoptions.org .
If you are unable to reach a family-based arrangement, your wife could approach the German equivalent of a UK magistrates' or county court to apply for a court order for maintenance to be made. This could then be enforced by the Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO) unit. You can find more information about REMO via the following link www.gov.uk/remo-unit-helpline .
For more information on the different ways to set up child maintenance and for a more personalised service, you can visit the Child Maintenance Options website yourself.
You may also be interested to know 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 www.sortingoutseparation.org.uk/
Regards
William
Thanks a lot,
I have seen all that online already but was hoping for more specific information from someone.
Thanks again !
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