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Hi all,
First time post so bare with me & sorry if this has been asked before.
My wife and I separated in February, we have two boys 4 & 10.
I'm currently paying for the monthly cost of the boy's childcare with a childminder.
I've used the CSA calculator and the estimate suggests I'm paying more for the childcare than is expected by the CSA.
I'm happy to continue paying this but should I be paying addition payments as 'direct' support to their mother? Do I have any obligation beyond the CSA 'recommendation'?
I don't want the boys to suffer or go without whilst with their Mum. At the same time I need to get a place of my own so they're comfortable with me too.
Thanks in advance.
Rich
Hi Rich, and welcome.
The CSA calculator is, strictly speaking, all that you are required to pay as far as child maintenance. Whether there is any obligation as regards spousal maintenance is something for the court with regards to the divorce.
Ultimately, if you pay only the minimum amount, you are within your rights, and there is no obligation to pay anything further - the rest is entirely up to you.
Hi Rich
Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. I will provide some information that may help answer your query.
To confirm what actd has posted, if you wanted to use the statutory child maintenance rules, you would legally be required to pay what has been calculated. It would be your decision if you wished to make additional contributions on top of your child maintenance payments.
From what you have written, it suggests that you may have a family-based arrangement in place. With this type of agreement, there are no strict rules to stick to. Therefore, both you and your wife have the freedom to decide the terms of your own arrangement, such as the form that child maintenance will be paid in.
A family-based arrangement does not always need to be about money, although many parents do include regular financial contributions. You arrangement can include other kinds of support, such as you directly paying for your children’s childcare costs. Although family-based arrangements are not legally-binding, many parents prefer them because of their flexibility and how easy the arrangement can be reviewed, such as if you or your wife’s circumstances change. You can find more information on family-based arrangements on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/family/index.asp.
To help you with your family-based arrangement, we have a range of tools and guides on our website that you may find useful ( http://www.cmoptions.org/en/toolbox/index.asp). These include our discussion guide which you can use to help you plan your conversations around child maintenance. We also have a family-based arrangement form that is not a legally-binding document but if used to write down what both of you have agreed, it can help to formalise your arrangement.
To give you an indication of how much child maintenance that may be calculated if you were to use the Child Maintenance Service, we have an online calculator on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/. Some parents use the figure provided as a starting point to negotiate a family-based arrangement.
For more information on the ways to set up child maintenance, please visit our website at http://www.cmoptions.org. Alternatively, you can call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on a Saturday. We have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is: www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.
Regards
William
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