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So me and the missus are just splitting up. She has a son aged 14 from her previous marriage. We have a daughter aged 4.
The plan is my daughter will live with me, her son will stay with her.
I have never formally adopted her son.
So, the question is, does this setup protect me from her making claims for maintenance against me?
She didn't work in the 7 years we were married, She did get a job about 6 months ago (well, actually I got it for her!), although she has been off sick 3 times in that time, now long term sick (you get the picture!!)
We have about 30k of debt, about half of it joint, mostly as a result of the costs of me putting her through a masters degree she now seems reluctant to use!
She earns 19k (when she's not off sick!), I earn 21k through PAYE but also have some agency pay that gets paid to a limited company I am director of.
we live in a rented house.
We will be moving out of the house at the end of the school year. I'll be moving in with my parents temporarily (just great at 48!) I neither know nor care what she will do but I think she expects to turn up at the DSS office and be handed a house!!
Andy Advice gratefully received.
Hi there
If you have your daughter living with you then you shouldn't have to pay anything. You will be entitled to the child benefit and working tax credits and if your ex is salaried you will also be entitled to maintenance from her.
If you divorce then she may be entitled to spousal maintenance and a share of any pension you have.
It might help to attend mediation to sort out how the joint debts will be paid and to sort out contact between your ex and your daughter.
She may be playing ball at the moment but its possible that she may change her mind about who your child lives with, as it will have a financial impact on her. ...be careful.
Many thanks for the response
I had a look at the child maintenance calculator you kindly linked to in another thread in case my daughter ended up with her, and it didn't look too bad, but spouse maintenance, whats that and how much is it likely to be?
half my pension, thats a bit steep!! I've been paying into it for 20 years, and only been married for 7!