AIBU re: child maintenance and bonus

[maintenancequestion]

Posting on behalf of DP.

DP and his ex agreed he would overpay monthly child maintenance and he would keep his bonus (if he got one). Ex liked this as it was less risky for her and she could plan better. She since found out (through his family) that he got a big bonus and wants a cut of that too. He thinks if she would have gone down the standard CM route and then took a cut of his bonus in the first place then it would have worked out better for her. My suggestion is to pay her the difference and then from now pay her standard child maintenance as calculated online, plus a percentage of any bonus he gets. Question is - what should the %age of the bonus be? We want it to be fair on all parties.

In addition she has said she will go to CSA which we have no issue but will either party have to pay any fee for this service?

If she does go through CSA I assume that when we move in they will automatically tell him to pay less as I have a son who would live with us. (whereas if we did a private arrangement he would likely just pay her the same regardless of living with me and my son.)

Thanks

[wheresthelight]

I am not sure the csa takes bonuses into account as they are not guaranteed so actually she would be worse off?

[youareallbonkers]

but they will take your earnings into account and assume you should pay half the household bills.

What % of his salary does he pay now? Is he one of these Dads who pay the bare minimum? Also, were they married?

[maintenancequestion]

I wondered if they looked at your tax record and calculated it after the year end or something? If we knew it was a block figure, eg. 20% then we could just pay her it once he got paid it rather than having to wait and then pay an amount after CSA has told us what that is.

Yes - most years she would be better off doing it the way she had asked to do it but this year his bonus was particularly good. so obviously she wants to change it!

[youareallbonkers]

the CSA take (unless it has changed) a fixed % from salary.

[maintenancequestion]

WHAT?????

When he moves in with me the CSA will take my earnings into account and that will affect what he pays his EX wife..... seriously??

I've worked my ass off to earn well to support me a DS...

[youareallbonkers]

In that they won't reduce his maintenance when he moves in with her and her son. Poorly worded by me

[youareallbonkers]

And if he is paying spousal maintenance and she goes to Court rather than through the CSA then yes the will take your assets and earnings into account. Same if she moved in with someone and there is a court order, your partner could apply to reduce the spousal maintenance

[maintenancequestion]

so if the CSA take a fixed %age from salary, does that include his bonus or not?

It looks like they will take 20% of his net salary then adjust because they have shared care...

So would the right thing be to apply this to any bonus he receives? If we do it privately we would do this.

If she goes through CSA would they do this?

thank you

[SaucyJack]

Wasn't he planning to treat his child when he got his bonus anyway?

[IdontusuallyNC]

They do not take partners income into account for pretty much anything maintainance related these days they used to but haven't for years

[maintenancequestion]

we won't move in together till they are divorced and everything is settled.

so once the divorce is done will it make any difference to what he pays whether he lives with me or not?

[IdontusuallyNC]

Obviously I'm referring to Csa/cms

[maintenancequestion]

yeah - we booked a holiday with his bonus (he paid for him and his kids and I paid for me and mine).

[FreudiansSlipper]

it depends on what his earnings are

if they are over a certain about the calculations are different and may include school fees I think it is if earnings are over £102k

[maintenancequestion]

Basic earnings are around £90K but bonus take it over £102K. The kids are in state primary school.

Either way we won't move in together till the divorce is done as if we were living together I'm 100% convinced she'd go after more from him. His ex is doing the "your prospects are better than mine, you're in a cosy new relationship" thing already so if we moved in she'd start with "you don't need as much money". Besides he still lives in the old family home with it's huge mortgage so until that's sorted there is no moving in!!

[abitwrong123]

If you move in together any reduction for your son would be tiny really and to be fair, I'm not sure why you seem to be banking on that? Apologies if I've misread your op. You've been able to support your son so far, no reason why you shouldn't continue to support him without needing to reduce the maintenance your partner pays for his child.
Your income won't be taken into account if assessed via CMS. it's a fixed percentage of your partners wage and he would have to provide a certain number of payslips or similar proof of income for an assessment.
There is a small charge I think for new CMS cases for both parties as far as I can remember but you can check this on the website.

His payment will also be assessed based on how many nights the child stays with him out of a set time period. So he receives a small reduction for a certain level of overnight care. There is a minimum number of overnights before the reduction would be applied. So for example 20 overnights in a year wouldn't allow for a reduction but a higher level would. Again it's on the website.

Bonus is taken into account as far as I recall. The percentage is the same whether he earns a higher or lower bonus. If he didn't receive a bonus or his earnings went down he would have to provide proof of the drop in income and ask for a reassessment.

[Letmeeatcakecakecake]

How many children does he have with her?

I thought that for one child, CSA take 15% of his net weekly salary, and 20% for two. He would also be required to pay spousal maintenance until she moves in with a new partner.

They don't take partners salaries into account when calculating CSA, however, I do think the amount he would be required to pay the ex would be reduced if he were to father another child with a new partner.

[abitwrong123]

If they are going through the divorce process she is entitled to state that his relationship has an impact financially, on the divorce forms both parties are asked to declare if they are in a new relationship and whether or not they intend living together in a certain time frame. It goes towards the calculation of housing needs for both parties etc.

[FreudiansSlipper]

I am not sure the csa will want to deal with it you are better going through solicitors

those earing a high salary other things may be considered like private education, basically children are expected to also live a good standard of living

[RaspberryMilk]

The considered factors are;


The CM is calculated on the previous years income.
ONLY HIS salary will be accounted for.
He WILL NOT pay lower childcare to HIS children because he has to support YOURS (whether this is his child or not)
His % is dependant on how often he has the child(ren) overnight.
Bonus is not taken into account until the following year.
Nobody pays for CSA.
They will only review the anount paid if either party advises of change in circumstances, ie he gets a new job etc.

Good Luck!

[x2boys]

My husband has a daughter from a previous relationship CSA take 15% of 80% of his earnings as we have two children they do not take into account my salary but they would take into account any tax credits claimed jointly.