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Hi
I've paid in agreement with my ex using the CSA guidelines for the last 6 years - 15% + 5% - I've also paid on time and have always given extra for school uniforms etc and oen childs busfares for school (£65 per month) and swimming club (£40 a month)
This is really making things tight and I'm wondering whether I am now overpaying - according to CMS i should be paying £70 less per month (which would help me with costs for the busfares)
Should I now tell her I am switching to the CMS calculations?
Thanks
The simple answer is that you have been paying more than you are required to by the CSA/CMS because what you pay according to their calculation is all that you need to pay, so paying towards uniforms. bus fares etc is entirely voluntary.
You could tell her that you are going to pay in accordance with the CMS and there's not a great deal she can do - the worst is to open a case with the CMS and you end up paying the same amount anyway, so it's really best if you can have a discussion with her about how to go about this. Personally, if you are trying to reduce your payments by £70 per month, I would be more inclined to keep the payments as they are (and pay by standing order, with a reference of "child maintenance") and ask her to pay the bus fare - that way you have a record that you are paying more than the minimum maintenance.
Hello Owle
I am William, the Child Maintenance Options consultant
Any statutory calculations made now would be done using the rules of the Child Maintenance Service, so you would be within your rights to re-calculate your maintenance payment. However, with the family-based arrangement you have, the rules are there as a guideline, the payment made and what is included in your arrangement can be anything you both agree to.
If you did have a case with the Child Maintenance Service, they would work out an amount for you to pay and you would not be expected to pay anything else, such as bus fares, on top of that.
On the Child Maintenance Options website, http://www.cmoptions.org, there are lots of tools and leaflets designed to help you with your family-based arrangement. In particular, there is a Discussion Guide which can help with your negotiations, the Talking About Money Guide which indicates the costs associated with raising children as well as giving ideas about what can be included in your arrangement, and a Family-based Arrangement Form which allows you to record your agreement. It is not a legally binding document but it is a useful tool for reviewing or renegotiating your agreement if circumstances change in the future.
Regards
William
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