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Hi Everyone,
I am currently going through [censored], well i will be in just under a month, My wife and i separated march 2010, we have 2 children who at that time were age 3 and 2. I took the children every weekend for a few months before changing to 50/50 arrangement, However after a few months of this i could no longer financially afford to continue this agreement as i was only working PT and the childrens mother was in receipt of all the benefits.
On 21 nov 2010 the children came to live with me fulltime, and their mother only saw them for a few times over the next few months if she was passing the door on her way to her new boyfriends, Anyways, we came to an agreement and she started to see them at weekends etc. Since then i have had a failed relationship with another women and have had to move home a few times, But and now and have been settled in my hone village again with my children for over a year now,
The childrens mother took very little to do with them for the first year of us separating, She was enjoying living the single life, however in Jan 2012 when the divorce was going through she applied to court with her solicitor for Custody, and since then, i have been in and out of courts for the passed year, Its now has to go to a Proof hearing next month.
Basically the Children have lived fulltime with me since nov 2012 and only lived 3 months with thier mother them self, she has since became friends with my Ex and both has slandered my for all they could in a recent BAr Report, hence the reason with this is going to proof, Now the agreement that we have had since sept 2013 in i have them mon to fri after school, and they go to their mothers for a long weekend and i keep them for the forth week.
She pays no maintenance, and we made a mutal agreement via solicitors for her to claim one of the child benefits, however she tehn went ahead and claimed the child tax credit for my son also, She has the children for 9 nights a months, and claims around £300 in benefit, works PT, does not pay any maintenance, refuses to help me with the childrens school clothes etc. The thing that make me angry is, if the tables were turned, there is no way i would get any of that, of get away with no maintenance,
I am asking for your opinion and help in this, as i have to write what i think is fair and right for the PROOF hearing, i know what i think, but i am wondering what other might think, incase i am wrong,
Sorry about the long winded message, but i suppose throughout the last year i have no one to off load onto other than close family who are biased towards me, so i am looking forward to others views,
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thank you if you find a moment to comment
Bobby
Ho Bobby
I'm afraid I have no idea what is involved in the proof meeting, but certainly, from what you have said you should be getting full child benefit and would be entitled to claim maintenance from your ex - it may be worth keeping a low profile on this until the custody has been settled, and then, if she refuses to pay maintenance, you can ask the CSA to take your case - with the child benefit, it will simply be a matter of putting in a claim, using the residence order as evidence.
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