[Solved] CMS and property rental income

Hello BooBoo2010,

sean.s has a family based arrangement and we do not know what amount of child maintenance he pays his former wife. It may be more than adequate to meet the needs of his child / children.

Regarding his inheritance, this was bequeathed to him and him alone, long after he was divorced. He has acted responsibly by making enquiries as to the position he is in regarding it. For anyone on this forum to have expectations of him as to what he should do with his asset and the money, is I believe, unacceptable.

Time and time again we read on here how many fathers are struggling financially, some are homeless and worst of all are denied contact with their children because of unreasonable mothers. We read of a father who is in a healthier financial position and who will, no doubt, see his child / children better catered for financially than those poor fathers who are struggling who want to do more but can't.

I have read in posts that large sums of money are paid for child maintenance by a few fathers, far in excess of what the maintenance cost of a child would be. In such cases, do the mothers give the fathers a refund due to overpayment? If not, what do they do with the money left over?

BooBoo

I believe Sean.s is trying to pay the correct amount and is more inquiring about where he stands, I don't think it's an attempt on his part to avoid paying.

MoaF

This is mainly a Dads forum, so the posts in the CM section are mostly about the unfairness of the system from the paying parents point of view. There are similar stories from the receiving parents point of view too, with paying parents finding ways to reduce payment, especially if self employed as THL has pointed out. I say this to keep balance and to point out that its not always black and white. I know BooBoo is in a similar situation and its therefore understandable why she might question his motives.

Sean.s

You make the point in your initial post that she spends the CM on herself, but you don't seem to think that what you pay is a contribution to the whole cost of looking after a child, which includes household outgoings and bills as well as keeping the child fed and clothed and the toy box stocked. You do say that she is on a better income than you,so her expensive tastes could just as well be financed by her own salary.

There's an expectation that the receiving parent should spend CM exclusively on the child, but that's not actually the case, it's a contribution to the general upkeep of the child and goes towards all that that entails.

To Mojo,

It is unnecessary for you to point out quote, " that its not always black and white. Possessing a degree of intellectual ability and common sense I already know most things are grey and rarely black and white.

I do not know either sean or Booboo or their individual circumstances. I read both posts, took them at face value. In so doing, as stated, I believe it is unacceptable for one person to comment regarding what they expect another person to do with their money or view their motives, because they make enquiries, with suspicion.

I am also fully aware that child maintenance contributions are made to meet the cost of ALL a child's needs.

I felt it was necessary to balance out your comments, the system fails parents from both sides. Not knowing an individuals circumstances makes it all the more important to be kind to all

Hi,
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I have moved some posts on this thread to a new thread as a sub conversation, this way the debate can continue but we can keep some focus on the original posters question.
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I have just moved a further post accross to the sub conversation, if you would like to continue your discussions that don't offer advice to the Original poster question, please comment on the sub conversation and not this thread!!
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GTTS

Hi all
I have been divorced for 3 years but am not sure that our family based calculation is correct as we calculated my payment to ex by using all of my salary and rental income from property.
I am at present in rental accommodation myself,her and kids in fully paid off house from settlement.
If I was to live in the rental property there would be no rental income or space for kids to visit ,stay over.
Therefore should our calculations be based on the income left after my rent payment is deducted?

hi,

with private/family based arrangements you can decide whatever you want pretty much. if disputes happen and it causes stress, arguments, then you should register with CMS as last resort.

stuff that CMS state about rental income:

You can ask the Child Maintenance Service to look at its maintenance decision again if a parent has new expenses or extra income that wasn’t considered first time around. This is called ‘applying for a variation.’

“unearned” income – such as rent that the paying parent (non-resident parent, 2003 scheme) gets from property or land, or dividends and interest from savings and investments - this must be at least £2,500 a year

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/other-financial-commitments-child-maintenance-cases

Notwithstanding Bill's answer above, unfortunately, you can't offset the rent you are paying against the income you are receiving, any more than you can do that for the inland revenue. Realistically, I would say that your best overall option in all respects would be to sell the property you are renting and put that money towards buying a property that is more suitable - that way you have lowered you maintenance liability, stopped any tax liability on income, and frozen any capital gains allowance on profit on the sale of the property. Certainly it might be worth getting professional financial advice on this.