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Hey guys, I'm not a dad, just a concerned partner
My boyfriend has been separated from his wife for 5 years now. They've just formalised the divorce during which they had a verbal agreement that he will not be paying any child support for the kids (9 & 11) because he bought her a brand new car, signed over his half of their £400,000 house (mortgage paid off) and also took over about £20,000 of their credit card loans (I didn't see any of the paperwork unfortunately). She earns well over £45,000 a year and the kids spend 2 weekends a month with us.
Last month we got a letter from Child maintenance services stating that she's put in a request for over £800 a month for child support.
Do you guys think this is fair/legal/can be disputed considering how much he's already given her and how much she earns?
I'm asking you here because he doesn't want to talk about it(more like refuses) with me. I keep telling him to get a lawyer because that seems like a stupidly high amount of money, but it's my first contact with a situation like this so I really don't know.
Has anybody been in a similar situation?
Any advice?
Thanks 🙂
hi,
sounds like he has been conned by his ex. unfortunately child maintenance service takes precedence over a private arrangement and even divorce cases for child support. its quite common, where during divorce proceedings, some child support agreements are made. then a year later one of the parents just rings CMS to open a new claim and that sticks.
CMS will not be bothered about any money the dad paid to his ex previously. they only care about the date the parent registered with CMS, and they would like maintenanc e payments to start from the date they registered with them. i think all the dad can do now is get in touch with CMS, to confirm exactly what his income is, does he have a pension, does he have another child living with him. how many nights does he spend with his kids. he needs to clear all that with them so he does not over-pay.
I'm afraid Bill is correct, CMS do not care about any private arrangement he has made in the past, so unfortunately, he is liable for the maintenance. I am surprised that it's only a verbal agreement, the finances are usually sorted in the divorce.
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