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Hi, I don't pay maintenance as one child (child 1) lives with me and the other child (child 2)lives with their mother.
However, although child 1 sees her mother for one night a week and eats there just the once, child 2 comes over between 4 and 5 times a week, usually once to sleep but stays for dinner everytime.
My partner thinks that the mother should contribute to the cost of increasing bills and is a point of contention between us, as I know it will be used against me (ie, your dad doesn't want to see you so often because you cost too much)
Is my partner right? Should I be asking my ex to pay some amount of maintenance to contribute?
I would not ask for any money. You are lucky you get to spend quality time with both your children, despite the split arrangement.
You may find that child 2 will one day want to live with you full time. If that ever happens then you could open a claim with CMS.
I presume that this is an informal arrangement. Do you each get child benefit for one child? If that's the case, then the CMS, if you opened a case each, would assess you separately based on your income - if you earn more than your ex, you'd end up paying her more than she pays you.
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