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I pay regular CSA payments by Direct Debit. My ex-wife has residency of the kids and I have a court order granting me regular weekly access to them.
I've been sent a letter about school fees and a statement from the school that the fees will be taken from my bank account by direct debit.
I was under the belief that the resident parent paid for school fees. Should I tell the school to send the invoice to my ex-wife or should I pay 50%? There doesn't seem to be any guidelines as to what I should and shouldn't pay.
There is no liability that you have to pay the school fees, unless you have an agreement to do so with the mother. I would discuss this with her but if you don't want to contribute you're not legally obliged to do so.
I think that if the NRP does pay school fees then the CSA make a reduction of the maintenance payment....but I'm not 100% sure so it would be better to check that out.
My ex-wife doesn't communicate at all...........well she does through the kids when she wants money but I may as well talk to the grass as try to discuss anything with her. I tried mediation but even the mediator gave up.
She tries every angle she can to get more money and it has degenerated into a game over the years. She wanted as much as she could get from me, instead of talking and being reasonable. I wanted to pay 50/50 for everything and have equal access but that wasn't enough for her. Her spite and nastiness blinded her. I give the kids lots of things directly and have been more than fair.
I will contact the school and ask why they have sent me a bill and why they want to take money directly from my bank account by direct debit when they should be dealing with the RP.
Being a NRP isn't great. I looked after my kids as much if not more than my ex-wife and to be limited in access to them is awful.........it's almost as if I did something wrong.
The sooner the kids are over 18 the better and then I can look after them without having somebody else tell me what I should do.
NJ is correct that you don't have to pay anything towards school fees if you are paying through the CSA. The only reduction, as far as I am aware, is if you were paying towards boarding school fees, in which case the boarding element of the fees can be looked at to reduce your maintenance.
As you are at the moment, the CSA figure is all you are liable for - you could contact the school and ask them to invoice your ex as she is the resident parent.
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