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Hi there, I'm asking on behalf of a friend and his situation.
He has two children to two different mothers whom neither of live with him.
He currently pays them each £200 a month for maintenance which he says he doesn't mind doing.
He's also looked at the online calculation from the cms website which he worked out to be £240 a month.
But, as there is not many options on the cms calculation were wondering is the figure of £240 worked out as if both children lived under the same roof ? ( although they don't )
My friend is simply checking that he is paying the correct ammount for his children so any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Hi there
Here's a link to the government guidelines that show the calculations in more detail and how you would work out paying two different mothers.
It looks like your friend would pay 16% of his gross income, divided in half for each child.
If he has either child overnight this would be reduced by 1/7th for every night the child stays with him...but it's explained in the link above.
Hello Martinbenn01
The amount worked out by the maintenance calculator should take into account both children and then each mother would receive half each. If your friend does have overnight stays with either of the children, this would alter the amount. The link provided by Mojo will explain that further.
There is a maintenance calculator on the Child Maintenance Options website, http://www.cmoptions.org, which will give your friend an indication of the amount that the Government would consider to be reasonable to pay.
More details can be found about how the Child Maintenance Service work out maintenance payments here, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/325219/how-we-work-out-child-maintenance.pdf
If your friend has a family-based arrangement in place, there are not really any set rules to follow. This type of arrangement can include anything that both parents agree to. The rules set out by the Child Maintenance Service can be used as guidance, of course.
If you or your friend would like more information on the different options available for arranging maintenance, Child Maintenance Options can be contacted directly.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a web application, ‘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 http://www.cmoptions.org/en/sortingoutseparation/index.asp.
Regards
William
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