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Hi folks. Hoping you can give a bit of advice. Myself, my wife and baby are planning on moving to Holland next year and opening a franchise. So in effect working for ourselves. I currently pay my ex wife an amount that was agreed in the divorce settlement, which is way above what the CSA payment would be. It was agreed that this payment would continue until my youngest daughter reached the age of 19 if in full time education. It also states that the payments can be reduced if circumstances change, such as unemployment or income etc. As per the settlement, I have to give her one months notice in writing to let her know. If she doesn't agree then she can take it to court or do it through the CSA.
My question is, how exactly does this work when in effect my current wife and I will not have any income for at least the first 6 months while we attempt to establish our business. I am in receipt of a War Pension and a Forces Medical Pension which we do intend to live off of for the first few months and as far as I'm aware these are not counted as an income as they are medical pensions. It was also agreed in the divorce settlement that she would have no claim on any of my pensions. I'm absolutely certain that my ex wife will not agree to a reduction, and If I do it through the CSA then my daughter will be the one that suffers as the payments will be a lot less. Also, does anybody know if the CSA has any authority in the Netherlands?
Hi if you are in receipt of a war pension then you may not be liable to pay anything in maintanance. Check it out, look at the CMS online calculator.
I know from experience that if your medical pension is non taxable, attributable to service, then it is not considered.
Dave
you could open a case with the CMS yourself and ask them to calculate and come to an agreement with your ex but with an understanding that you are going above and beyond as you are not liable to pay anything.
Dave
Hi Brunkendastard
Thanks for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. If the agreement that you made during your divorce settlement was turned in to a Consent Order/Minute of Agreement. You will need to speak to either the solicitor or court where the order was originally made in regards to lowering your payments.
If your arrangement was not taken to court and turned in to a Consent Order/Minute of Agreement, you will need to speak to your ex-wife and try to renegotiate your payments. This can be done without involving anyone else, or with the help of friends, family, Child Maintenance Options' guides or a professional mediator. If you feel a mediator could help you to renegotiate your family-based arrangement, the following link will provide you with contact details of organisations in your area that provide a mediation service http://find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk/.
There are no strict rules or formulas that you have to stick to when working out a payment figure when parents have a family-based arrangement in place. Family-based arrangements are not legally binding, however, they are quick and easy to change if you are your ex-wife has a change in circumstances.
If you would like an indication of how much maintenance may be payable, based on how the Governments statutory maintenance service calculates maintenance, there is a calculator available on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/. Some parents use the figure provide as a starting point to negotiate a family-based arrangement.
The Governments statutory maintenance service can only deal with an application for child maintenance when both parents and the child live in the UK. However, there are exceptions to this when any of the following points apply to the paying parent (referred to in legislation as the non-resident parent):
•Is working abroad in the service of the crown. (for example, is a Civil Servant, works within Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service or is a member of the Armed Forces).
•Works abroad for a UK based company (for example the company employs people to work outside the UK but makes payments via a UK payroll. The company also needs to be registered under the Companies Act 1985 (England, Wales and Scotland) or the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.)
•Works abroad on a secondment for a prescribed body (for example, works for an NHS trust, regional health authority, primary care trust or local authority).
Just to let you know that once you have moved to Holland your ex-wife can approach a UK magistrates' or county court to apply for a court order for maintenance to be made. This can then be enforced by the Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO). This is an agreement set up via the British Government with other countries, to enable citizens to receive maintenance if a parent lives abroad. You can find out more at https://www.gov.uk/remo-unit-helpline.
To find out more about how Child Maintenance Options can help you visit cmoptions.org or call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on Saturday.
Thanks
William
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