[Solved] Hi, looking for some advice

Hi

Sorry to hear what you are going through. But do try, as best as you can to remain amicable.

With regards to CSA (or CMS) the issue is quite straight forward, but it would be helpful to know how many kids you have and what the "full" amount you deem the payment to be (you mention you would like to reduce it to 344, but from what: 444?)

Regarding overnights - you are correct in saying that if you do not have the kids overnight (for at least 1 night per week on average) then no reduction for shared care is made. This is likely to be the most significant way to reduce a maintenence liability.

Regarding fuel - this is covered via something called a variation for contact costs. But be aware the rules regarding this are somewhat opaque and have changed over the years. As long as the cost associated is larger than £10 per week - then the full cost is taken into account. But be aware: only a percentage of the fuel costs would be taken off the maintenence amount, because of the way the maintenance calculation works.

Here is an example.

Say Gross weekly income net of pension is 800
Average weekly contact costs (fuel) = 25.00
Gross income - contact costs = 800-25=775

For one child, with a gross weekly income of 800 or less, the basic rate 12% applies.

So weekly maintenence will be 775*12% = £93 per week (with contact costs variation applied).

Without the contact costs variation the weekly maintenence = 800*12% = £96

As you can see - the fuel costs are taken into consideration by reducing your gross weekly income used in the calculation. You cannot simply take £100 off the monthly maintenence amount. So if your fuel is £25 per week on average, you will get a reduction of £3 maintenence per week.

As I mentioned - the reduction for shared care will be more substantial - with a 1/7th reduction (of gross weekly income) per child (up to some limit) for each overnight stay per week. So for completeness - my example above would be

Say Gross weekly income net of pension is 800
Shared care reduction (1 night per week on average) = 114.29
Gross income - shared care = 800-114.29= 685.71

So weekly maintenance is then 685.71 *12% =£82.29

Also - it is worth adding (as you mention "collection") that under the newest CMS rules - the default scheme is "direct pay" where the Non resident parent just pays the resident parent directly.

There now has to be "grounds" for CMS to collect and pay - and levy a 20% charge on top of any maintenance amount. It used to be the case that the RP could simply ask for either (and of course this means vindictive RPs would opt for collect and pay).

Grounds for CMS to agree to collect and pay are: arrears, or a history of non-payment or a real and significant threat of non-payment. Otherwise it defaults to direct pay.

The CMS want to encourage parents to sort of finances amongst themselves (and reduce their workload) - and so would need convincing to use collect and pay (compared to the old system). Overall I think this is a positive change for families.

Thanks for the reply,

I have 2 kids and works out my payments should be £244 a month on my gross wage, not taking into account fuel and the 2 nights i collect them for her work rotas.

I would prefer to have them overnight for these 2 days but school being 15miles away there would be no chance of me getting them to school and back to work on time.

So what about the demands that she will move away if i dont agree to her rotas, id like a routine where i have the kids and know when i will have them and not have to wait around for her rotas. I dont think her job should really be my problem but feel ill lose my kids if i dont agree.

Hi again

Regarding work rota's - the only way to have concrete arrangements is to have a child arrangements order - stipulating the details of contact. The only way to get this, is to apply to court using form C100 after attending an initial mediation meeting (MIAM). But in general it is better to stay out of court, if you both can.

Family based arrangements are exactly that - arrangements that work for you as a unit. There are no hard-and-fast rules as to what can be included, but it is best if it is centered around your children and their needs.

You say her work rota's are not your problem - but unless she is deliberately going to extraordinary lengths to make things difficult for you - your ex presumably needs to work... Just as many fathers here work shifts, etc - these things work both ways. That said, it is not unreasonable to ask for rota's in advance (again this works both ways) - but if by the nature of her work she cannot provide this - there is little you can do (without a court order). I provide my ex with 6months to 1 year of my work pattern in advance - and my ex made a similar claim against my rota's.

With regards to moving away - if she will still be within the UK, your ex is not legally obliged to live near you, and you would have to make alternative arrangements regarding contact. That said, you may be able to use a prohibited steps order - which, in short - stops one parent or the other from taking a specific action (that they would normally be legally able to do), if it can be shown that this is not in the child's best interest. You would have to argue why your ex moving away would not be in the child's best interests, and how she has not given it much thought, etc.

the rotas are not a problem as such its just i dont really have a suitable routine where me and the kids know when they come to mine, the initial agreement was for 2 nights a week where she would help out with fuel etc, then the arguments about fuel came around and she needed more money from me and she handed me rotas and told me that next week it would be 3 nights a week not the initial 2 nights agreed, and this would keep changing, so im already struggling with travel to then get another day added to the week.

Hi again - it really sounds like mediation would be appropriate here. It really is the best forum in which to raise these points.

Sometimes parents can forget these arrangements are for the benefit of children and a little give and take on both sides is required to achieve this. If you are helping her with her work pattern, then it would not be unreasonable to ask for these in advance or to have as much stability as possible (bearing in mind impact on children).

But it sounds like you both need to sit down with a trained mediator and go through these issues.

My take on it is, your ex does not sound like she is being totally unreasonable (yet) - so this would be an excellent time to make use of mediation to nip these issues in the bud.

This is a normal experience for many couples post divorce or separation. Emotions are raw, and lives have been changed, etc. Having an unbiased third party can bring about outcomes an arguing couple just simply would not be able to achieve.

You can find a mediation service from here:
http://www.nfm.org.uk/
good luck

Well i managed to get an agreement with the ex, she started to be reasonable and decided we should both work together for the kids sake, thanks for all your help, really appreciate it.

That is great news.

It's so much better for you both if you can talk and reach agreement without involving outside agencies. Well done. 🙂