[Solved] Confused

Hi Nobby

I think that if you are paying mortgage etc you should get a reduction of the amount of maintenance you pay...I seem to remember this is the case if you have an arrangement through the CSA .

I would say you could reduce some outgoings by changing the insurance to buildings only and look at cancelling the life insurance. This might save you a some money. You would need to cover the buildings as its a requirement of the mortgage usually, but there's no reason why you should pay her contents, that's down to her.

There's a sticky at the top of the child maintenance section called "How does the CSA calculate payments". There are two links, the second is the current leaflet by the CSA or CMS as they are now called.

We dont have an arrangement via CSA it is a mutual agreement.
Its just im struggling to move on in life.
I am paying for half the debt we incurred in our marriage plus I had to buy a car as she had the car, house and all the contents so I have started from nothing again.
Also i let my no claims subside to increase hers so my insurance premium is high at the mo.
She ended the marriage and she walked away but I was so afraid of her taking my daughter away and I thought we could fix things so I let her back into the home and I left.
Sorryest thing I ever did.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Maintenance payments can be crippling and unfair...they don't allow the separated non resident parent to move on effectively.

If you are paying a pension you can increase the amount you pay into it and that would reduce the maintenance payment....at least it would be going towards your future.

You can also open a case with CMS yourself which might reduce the amount you pay.

You could approach the mortgage company and ask if you can make interest only payments for a period of time whilst you get on your feet.

You could tell her that you want to sell the house to finance your own place so that you have somewhere for the children to visit and stay. Offer her a larger share of the equity as an incentive and point out that if she can't agree to that then you will have to stop paying your share of the mortgage, in which case the mortgage provider would repossess the property and the amount of equity you both receive would be greatly reduced.

Worse case scenario you'll have to hang on in there until your youngest is 18 and then she will have no choice but to sell.

Go have a chat to the CAB, some solicitors offer a free initial consultation which might be helpful to find out where you stand.

Good luck

The CSA do take into account any debt your paying off from when your together, have a google about it

Hi Nobby

Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. I will provide some information that may help answer your query.

You mentioned that you pay child maintenance via a family-based arrangement. With this type of agreement, there are no strict rules to stick to. Therefore, both you and your ex-wife have the freedom to decide the terms of your own arrangements, such as what your child maintenance will cover and how it will be calculated.

A family-based arrangement can include money and other kinds of support, such as you directly paying for things that your daughter may need. Although family-based arrangement are not legally-binding, they can easily be reviewed such as if you or your ex-wife’s circumstances change. You can find more information on family-based arrangements on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/family/index.asp.

If you would like to try and renegotiate your family-based arrangement, you may find our page on talking about child maintenance useful ( http://www.cmoptions.org/en/family/talking.asp). We also have a range of tools and guides that you can use to keep your arrangement amicable ( http://www.cmoptions.org/en/toolbox/index.asp). These tools include our discussion guide which you can use to help you plan your conversations around child maintenance. We also have a family-based arrangement form that is not a legally-binding document but if used to write down what both of you have agreed, it can help to formalise your arrangement.

To give you an indication of how much child maintenance that may be calculated if you were to use the Child Maintenance Service, we have an online calculator on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/. Some parents use the figure provided when renegotiating child maintenance for their family-based arrangement.

If you wanted to use the statutory rules for your family-based arrangement, then regular child maintenance payments must be made until a child is 16 years old, or 20 if they are in full-time, non-advanced education (A-level or equivalent), or for as long as Child Benefit is being paid. You can also find more information on when child maintenance stops on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/when-child-maintenance-payments-stop.

Child maintenance is worked out using the paying parent's 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. In most cases this gross income figure comes from information given to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) by the paying parent, their employer or a third-party such as an accountant. You can find the circumstances when the paying parent’s mortgage payments are taken into account on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/260890/how-we-work-out-child-maintenance.pdf. You can also find more information on how the Child Maintenance Service on work out child maintenance on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/how-child-maintenance-is-worked-out/how-the-child-maintenance-service-works-out-child-maintenance.

If you have any queries relating to your mortgage and insurance payments, you may wish to contact the respective providers directly. As Nanny Jane as mentioned, you may also wish to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau as they can provide information on legal topics ( http://www.adviceguide.org.uk).

For more information on the ways to set up child maintenance, please visit our website at http://www.cmoptions.org. Alternatively, you can call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on a Saturday. We have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is: www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.

Regards

William

How are my payments affected if my ex wife marries and then moves her new husband in with her. Bear in mind I am paying the mortgage at the minute.
Regards

What was the financial settlement in the divorce? That's a separate issue to child maintenance.