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I'm confused by CMS. On the one hand I'm reading if you have shared care you don't pay anything and then on the other hand if you have them 175+ nights a year (half!?) Payments are reduced by half. Am I misinterpreting shared care?
I currently have my two boys 3 nights a week (tricky to split 7 days) and the calculator is coming out at over £400 per month. When we split I wanted 50/50 but my ex refused and I acquiesced probably out of guilt. It feels now like I'm getting hammered both ways.....I can't have my children as often as I'd like (without going down the legal route) and then have to pay for the privilege!? On current arrangement ex has the boys 64 nights a year more than me. At £416 a month that works out at over £80 a night!? Is the calculator the way to go in trying to sort an arrangement or can it be wildly out?
hi eski,
yes the system can suck. i spoke to cms recently, and told them i will be getting overnights with kids, 2 nights every other weekend, and some extras for holidays. they asked if theres a court order and to send it to them. i sent it over to them so hopefully they will be re-calculating my payments...
for me there has been no real difference between using that calculator, and CMS working it out themselves. maybe £2-3 difference. im self-employed, and no pension or anything, so more straightforward. i volunteered and signed up to CMS. had to pay £20 fee. i did this to get away from benefit scrounging vultures that were hounding me for money. so i actually feel protected under CMS lol. and they can always give me reductions in future if i spend more nights with kids or i marry and other kids living with me. you will never get these reductions if you stick to private arrangement with a hostile ex.
if you want 50/50 shared care and to scrap maintenance payments, then unfortunately you will need a court order stating 50/50 shared care.
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