Schedule 1 Children Act

[hsamantha]

To cover the main events, EXP has no contact with his 4 month Son, based on his own decisions

Child Maintanence payments have been arranged through the CMS, I have also asked EXP for financial help towards the costs of equipment for our Son, Car, furniture, pram etc. I provided copies of receipts to him, he said he would take legal advice, he contacted me following this and provided me with cheaper comparables of items I had purchased, he totalled the costs and then halfed the amount to offer me £521, on the proviso that I signed to confirm that this would be the only time he would have to pay over and above Child Maintanence, I rejected this offer.

In an attempt to find another way of resolving this I made an appointment with a mediator, I attended an initial appointment and said that I would be happy to attend mediation with EXP. The Mediator got back in touch with me following EXP appointment to advise mediationwould not be going ahead, they could not give a reason however it was because either they thought mediation was not suitable or one or the other party did not want to partake. I can only assume from this that EXP did not want to go ahead.


From this I now feel that bringing a claim under Schedule 1 is not my only option, for information, EXP sold a property where he made a profit of circa 90K in December 2013 and he has a gross salary of approx 61K per year. I now have a solicitor involved who is trying to push EXP solicitor to go to mediation, has anyone else been through a claim under this section of law or knows much about it? Thanks in advance

[inthename]

I'm a bit confused - if hes paying maintenance at the correct amount, then hes not required to pay for anything else regardless of what sort of savings he has.
Are you therefore going for a financial settlement where everything that you both have is looked at and basically divided (where you either do it through declaring everything with a mediator or fill in a Form E and mutual disclosure through solicitors etc)
If he has indicated that he doesn't wish to proceed with mediation then I'm a bit surprised that your solicitor is wasting letters asking him again.
What is Schedule 1?

[hsamantha]

Yes he is paying correct maintenance however there are significant costs of bringing up children that are incurred that go above and beyond the day to day costs that maintenance contributes to, the birth of a child being one.

Schedule 1 is a section of law that unmarried couples can bring a claim under, for the person with primary care of the child, to claim against the other parent for either transfer of property, lump sum or periodical payments over and above child maintenance, therefore his savings and income are relevant when looking at what he can afford.

Judges are very keen for matters to be kept out of the courts therefore my solicitor has to fully explore this avenue or the judge would just adjourn and ask it to be done

[lostdad]

I have dealt with Schedule 1 applications.

As it's part of the Children Act you will need to apply the Welfare Checklist as you for any other part. Namely you will need to convince the court that making an order is in the best interests of your son.

If your ex has a large lump sum you could therefore make a claim for that (as inthename says if he is paying the correct maintenance that has no bearing on this). But as I say the onus is on you to persuade the court to make an order - not for your ex to persuade it not to.

Incidentally - it's not just unmarried couples who make this application.

Get in touch if you want a chat.

[bustrainwalkwalk]

I thought Schedule 1 applications for lump sums or maintenance in addition to CSA/CMS for unmarried couples were only pursued when the other party were very high earners/minted?

OP's ex sold a property and made 90k profit almost a year ago- which may be long gone now- debts, new home, other spends. 60k isn't a huge salary in many parts of the country.

[hsamantha]

EXP had no debts, has not purchased another house, he rents and my claim for lump sum is for 20k so this would certainly not leave him with nothing

[PatriciaHolm]

I believe Schedule 1 will only normally make periodical payments where the CSA/CMA have no jurisdiction, so that won't be relevant. (There are exceptions but they are normally related to specific ongoing costs, such as school fees)

The relevant possibility within S1 will be a lump sum relating to relevant costs, usually associated with birth.

Whether you are successful would depend on a number of factors, including your relative financial situations, other responsibilities/needs, and the financial needs of the child. What you need to weigh up is whether the costs/hassle of issuing proceedings are worth it - I very much doubt you'll get £20k as this will be very hard to justify as being directly related to specific costs.

[hsamantha]

The 20k is made up of 16.5k for a car and 3.5k for costs spent on furniture, pram, steriliser etc.

My son was diagnosed with viral meningitis and has lots of appointments at doctors and hospital so this is my reasoning for a car to take DS to these, he will also be taken to nursery and school in future years

[titchy]

At £16.5k for a car! Mine cost £2k and it's perfectly fine!!!!

[titchy]

And £3.5k for equipment?!!!!

[bustrainwalkwalk]

What? I am watching this thread as I cannot believe the law allows for this to happen. I don't understand, the man is not a high earner, and you weren't married.

OP I don't expect you to justify yourself or reply to this as it's your thread and if you're legally able to do this it's up to you if you want to..

but I can't work out why you need him to pay you 16.5k for a car? Is that just his half of the car or is that the full cost? Why can't you spend 4k on a car and get a reliable secondhand runaround? Also who needs to spend 3.5k on baby things? Again is that just his half or are you not expecting to have had to contribute? If you've already spent it why did you spend so much if you could afford it? I've recently had a baby and got everything we needed and more including nursery furniture, buggy, car seat the lot and if guess we spent under £1000. Our steriliser cost £25.

[SoonToBeSix]

You don't need 20 k that is ridiculous. 5k is plenty for a car and equipment . That's between you so 2.5 k for your Ex.

[SoonToBeSix]

From your Ex.

[SoonToBeSix]

Also if you feel your ds has a disability that incurs extra costs you could apply for dla for him.

[bustrainwalkwalk]

Can someone explain why he is obliged to buy OP a car at all?

[hsamantha]

Just because we were not married does not mean that it releases him from his responsibilities.

Regarding contribution....I look after our Son everyday, I have taken a drop in pay receiving stat mat pay, I also pay the mortgage and all associated bills and costs for our Son to be housed, not everything is down to money in terms of contribution. I'm glad my EX thinks that his responsibilities start and finish with child maintenance only.

Regarding costs, obviously each person will have a different view on what is reasonable to spend, however in previous cases under Schedule 1, judges have declared that the child should share in the same standard of living as the Father.

Regarding DLA, why should the government pick up the tab, when its both parents responsibility, not the state

[inthename]

All I can think is that its the car plus ongoing running costs, though I can't imagine it as when you apply for a lump sum.after divorce it doesn't seem to be the same - does how long you were together etc count or is it specifically costs related to the baby, because I can't see anyone being able to claim £16.5K and £3.5K if its very specific to birth costs?

[hsamantha]

I'm also looking for help from people who actually know about this section of law, the rest of your opinions about what to and what not to spend are not helpful at all.

If you want to know more about this section of law then google it or read this

www.majorfamilylaw.co.uk/featured-articles/the-kids-are-alright/

[inthename]

The looking after every day etc would be covered in law by his maintenance contribution, its expected to cover housing, food, clothing etc and should be 15% of his net salary (though that depends on whether he has other children or not) so I would imagine on a salary of £60K its going to be around £750 a month. Does your ex have cars worth £16.5K (I know there are plenty of cars in that bracket which would be quite 'normal' but as you say it would all be relative to his lifestyle)

[inthename]

apologies, best of luck with whatevr route you decide to take

[bustrainwalkwalk]

Poor man. That is all.

[bustrainwalkwalk]

What 4 month old needs a £33k car? Lol.

[hsamantha]

16.5k is the totally cost, so bustrainwalkwalk, keep your assumptions to yourself and yes he owns a luxury BMW outright, and my car being a Nissan is very modest in comparison

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I remember another thread with a poster who had tried to use the act and have found it for you here.
Pasta had taken some very expensive advice and found that unless over 100K was involved it was likely to cost you more than you gained, but it maybe useful reading.
Though if you use the search Facility there are several other threads from equally frustrated people.

[bustrainwalkwalk]

Why should he buy you a 16k car though? What is wrong with your car? Your son doesn't need a 16k car the Nissan will do. We don't have a car at all- my kids survive just fine. So what if he drives a better car than you. He's paying maintenance at the required rate. He's not a hugely high earner.

Sorry but I think what you are doing is disgusting. Hopefully this man will
be able to get on with his life without keeping you in 16k cars.

[hsamantha]

Bustrainwalkwalk, yes the Nissan is just fine and it cost 16k, thats what I've asked him to contribute to as he is not prepared to look after his son or take him to any appointments and he wont contribute therefore that is why I'm going down this route