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I have an 18-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy who I pay maintenance for, my wife has decided she does not want to look after my 16-year-old son and has sent him to me. My wife does not work but claims disability working allowance even though she could work if she wanted to (this is being looked at). My ex-wife however says she will not work anyway whatever the outcome because when we went to court the judge gave her 62% of the house as she had the kids and this enabled her to buy a house outright and have a nice sum in her bank account. My ex-wife also says she will not pay anything towards my sons keep and I will have to pay everything and she will not even help getting him to school even though I work from 5.00am to 18.00pm each day and she has nothing to do. Our house is about 45mins away from his school, which is three bus journeys for him, is there any way she can be made to contribute as I have been paying maintenance for 12 years and it seems unfair that she can just chuck my son out and not pay anything.
In theory, she should now pay maintenance to you. However, if she's in receipt of benefits, her liable amount is likely to be negligible.
You can open a case with the Child Maintenance Service and they will calculate what she will have to pay.
Thanks, I guess I will have to sort it out myself as my wife has no intention getting a job and just wants my son off her hands.
If the sum in the bank is more than about £60k (I can't remember the exact figure these days), then she will be liable for maintenance on that - you'd need to apply for a variation.
I know it's not a good time to change schools, by perhaps this might be in your sons best interests overall.
Definitely contact the CMS, also you are entitled to child benefit for him and possibly working tax credits. If you rent your home, depending on your income you may also be entitled to help with that and council tax.
If you have difficulty knowing what you might be entitled to, the CAB are very good at helping with this.
All the best
I wouldn't bother with the stress of getting child support of her his 18th is less than 2 years away just hang in there get him through his driving test next year with a job happy days !!
I disagree! You are entitled to it and it really isn't stressful, all you do is contact the child benefit office, inform them of the changes and take it from there.
Your son may wish to stay on in full time education and he will be eligible for child benefit until the age of 20 if he remains at college or takes an approved apprenticeship.
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