Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
Must have muppet written across my forehead.
No, just a decent human being.
It’s a bit complicated my ex and I have a terrible relationship and we’ve just finished up in the courts sorting out the house (I gave everything to her I just wanted my name off the mortgage) and she dragged it on for a very long time- eventually she was ordered to pay £900 court costs.
Two days after everything was finally sorted she sends me a letter saying I owe her £1000 in Child Maintenance Payments because I had a pay rise and I didn’t increase my payments to her straight away. I called CMS and they said there were no arrears on the account as far as they were concerned because she only asked them to look into it officially a few months ago and before that we had made an arrangement between ourselves based on my previous wage, but my ex said that she is going to take me to small claims if I don’t pay it.
I am reluctant to pay it because while she may be correct in that I under paid for a few months, I was paying out hundreds each month in solicitor fees and so I had no money to spare at that point. (I paid for the entire divorce- I agreed to let her have the house and everything in it because I just wanted this whole thing to be over and that seemed like the quickest way)
My question is can she take this to small claims even if CMS say I don’t owe anything ? Is she likely to win on a moral basis that I should have declared my increased wage ? Thanks for any opinions
she paid £900 in court costs, so i get the impression she is trying to recover that cost from you hahahah.
Yes probably
If your Child Maintenance is calculated either by the CMS or using the CMS calculator then you are only liable for increased payments when your wages increase by over 25% from when the original calculation was undertaken.
Not sure if you are over this threshold. If not then she doesn’t have a case in my opinion.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.