[Solved] Presuming I'm now due maintenance from the mother?

Hi

The agreement is between yourselves, so you can ask for what you want and agree it yourselves, including backdating.

However, if you can't agree, then you have an option to open a case with the CMS which means (for £20 for opening the case) they will calculate payments, and will enforce if necessary. Their calculation will be 12% of your ex's gross salary, so if this is more than £100 per month, perhaps your ex might be persuaded that £100 per month backdated is in her interest to go along with - otherwise open a case and let them sort it out - she can't then avoid paying.

....* If I am entitled and within my rights to ask her for a monthly payment, could this be backdated to June 2015 when our daughter left education?

Thanks in advance for any advice and help.

As said, you are entitled to maintenance and this could continue up until his twentieth birthday, whilst your son is in full time, non advanced education and this can include college and some apprenticeships, but not University.

As you had an informal arrangement in place you can try and negotiate some back payment with her, but you have to ask yourself, if she was fair minded she would have continued to contribute to your sons upbringing... Not doing so might be a good indicator of how she might feel about backdating.

If you can't agree then the CMS is an option and as actd has said, if you know how much she earns, you could do the calculation and if it's more than £100pm use this as a basis to get her agreement. If you do open a case with the CMS they will only hold her liable for payment from the point that the case is opened, so anything "owed"before won't be taken into account.

Heres a link to the CMS calculator

www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenance

Thanks Mojo. That's as I thought. And you're right, the fact that she hasn't volunteered to help with my son's upkeep says everything about her to be honest.

I'll wait until my son has got his definite confirmation of his place at the Sixth Form College, and I'll raise the subject with her.

Thanks again.

You're welcome...best of luck with it 🙂

Hello Sand-dancer

Just to confirm the information you have been provided with already.

Every parent has a responsibility to contribute towards their children’s upkeep, so you are within your rights to expect maintenance from your ex-wife.

There are various different ways this can be set up. A family-based arrangement is an agreement between parents without the involvement of the Government or legal system, much like the arrangement you have had in place in the past.

On the Child Maintenance Options website, http://www.cmoptions.org, you will find lots of tools and guides which are designed to help parents who would like to set up their own family-based arrangement. These include the Discussion guide which can help with negotiations and the Family-based arrangement form which allows you to record your agreement.

You will also find the Online calculator which will indicate an amount that the Government would consider reasonable for you to receive.

If the family-based arrangement is not possible for you, there are other options such as the Child Maintenance Service. They are the Government’s statutory maintenance service and they can either help you to set up payments or they can manage the arrangement entirely if necessary. There is a non-refundable application fee of £20, payable when you apply.

When a case is set up with the Child Maintenance Service, the responsibility to pay starts from around the time they make contact with the paying parent. So there would be no back-dated payments, unless you agreed them as part of a family-based arrangement of course.

The other option is to have an arrangement set up through the courts and put on a Consent Order.

If you would like further information about the options and to receive a more personalised service, you can contact Child Maintenance Options directly.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a web application, ‘Sorting out separation’. It aims to make it much easier for separating and separated parents (and childless couples) to find the support they need, when and where they need it, and encourages them to collaborate on a range of issues. The link is http://www.cmoptions.org/en/sortingoutseparation/index.asp.

Regards

William

Thanks William