Shared Care and maintenence

[Imperialleather2]

Dh has just been to court and finally been awarded shared Care of dss. It is,a genuine 50/50 spilt. We will provide his clothes uniform school trip money etc while he is here.

So, we currently pay £700 a month maintenance through the csa. We've tried to agree to do it directly but dss mother won't have it and I'm sure likes to use the csa bevause they are so bloody awkward.

Anyway it looks as though because she gets the child benefit that we'll still have to pay maintenance of £350!! How is that fair?

It looks as though Cmo look at shared Care differently and if we can prove genuine share care then nothing will be due. Is this right?

Thanks

[swingofthings]

I've never heard of this. As a matter of fact, it is not unusual for maintenance to be paid in share cared arrangements if the two household incomes are vastly different so that the child can have more of an even lifestyle.

If it doesn't work and OH still has to pay maintenance, could they come up to an agreement that she pays towards the things that don't need to be duplicated, ie. school shoes/coat, activities, school trips, presents for birthday invitations, birthday parties etc...

[Imperialleather2]

I can't imagine for one minute that she'll pay anything this way.

She works full time as does dh. She goes on 2 foreign.holidays a,year we don't. Dh has to.support himself me and 2 1/2 children whilst she has to.support herself and 1/2 a child.

She has a similar sized house to us. How is it fair????

[CocaKoala]

As you went to court - do you have an order stating you both have 50/50? I'm wondering if you do weather sending in a copy of that to them would help?

Have they given your DH a reason why he is still eligible to be paying that amount?

[JakieOH]

I work with a girl who has exactly 50/50 care with her DS dad. She doesn't get any maintrnence at all from him, she did look into it as he refuses to pay for any activities the chikd does etc. she isn't entitled to a penny so I would investigate further if I was you. It sounds very unfair to me!

[PeruvianFoodLover]

It depends on which CM rules you're on.

I have 50:50 of my DD with her Dad and we're on the "old" CSA rules which means he's still liable to pay me maintenance, and he does, through salary deduction (he had a debt repayment plan and this was recommended at the time, he's never defaulted).

We have agreed that I am responsible for paying for everything that DD 'needs' one of - laptop, phone, blazer, school shoes etc. Her Dad is a bit Disney though, so usually buys these anyway, because he wants her to "have the best" whereas I'll budget a bit more carefully and not buy her the latest gadgets every year!

The new 2012 CMS rules for Child Maintenance state that none is payable if care is 50:50 - all new cases are opened under the CMS rules now, and cases under the old rules are slowly being transferred over.

[EatSleepRepeat]

Who told you your DH still needs to pay £350?

[EatSleepRepeat]

Maybe because care is no half she assumed CM was now half?

[Imperialleather2]

The csa told us. Seems very unfair. I'm going to try and get transferred to the new rules sooner rather than later.

[Quesera21]

Imperial - it sound wrong - but is it true 50:50 - down to the last day. If it is 4 days with her and 3 days with you - then it is not 50:50.

£700 pcm for one DC with ( I assume the other 2 DCS are also his) means he earns a not insignificant sum.

What she does with her monies is entirely up to her, she goes on holiday, you do other things.

[JakieOH]

She is basically taking a handout if care and finances are split 50/50. That's disgraceful, some people have no shame

What DH earns is irrelevant in 50/50 care. Hopefully it will be changed soon for you OP.

[Imperialleather2]

Quesera
Yes it is true 50/50. 2 nights in the week with us,every week and 2 nights with her every week and the alternate weekends of Fri sat and sun night. And so the pattern rolls on.

I don't care what she spends the money on I was just making the point that it's not fair. Yes dh earns a fair wedge but I don't get why she still gets a share of it. They were never married.

I'm going to try and get it transferred today.

[PeruvianFoodLover]

imperial can you let me know how you get on, please?
I've been given loads of contradictory information about whether transfer from one system to another can happen 'on request' - it would be good to hear your experience, thanks.

[swingofthings]

Such a pity to not be able to reach a compromise that is most reasonable. What a waste of money to buy twice some things that are not required just because the parents can't agree that one gets some maintenance but pays for all the things that don't require to be bought twice.

[JakieOH]

What did they say OP?

[yellowdaisies]

I think what you've been told us correct. The old rules assume that one parent is the "main" career who's responsible for all the child's expenses except food, etc whist "visiting" the other parent. So 4/7 of the full amount is still due even when the child spends 3+ nights a week with the NRP.

The new system is supposed to be recognising the existence of set-ups like yours when both childcare and costs are shared equally. I'm not sure how you go about getting moved onto it faster though.

[yellowdaisies]

The CMA /CMS is nothing to do with evening up standards of living between households - it couldn't be because it takes no account of what the RP earns (or any stepparents in either household) My ex earns a lot less than me but CMS would still say he should be paying me, which actually exacerbates the differences in lifestyles between his home and mine. It's about both parents supporting their DC though.

[MrsChiefTyrell]

In cases of exact 50:50 Residence under the new CMS regulations no maintenance at all is payable. You may need to make many telephone call, speak to team leaders and managers as lots of their staff still don't know this is the case. You will ned to provide evidence of equal shared care (the Court Order) and you will need to ask them to make a nil assessment due to equal shared care.

However, if you are still with the CSA then even with 50:50 Shared Care the parent who holds the Child Benefit claims the maintenance from the other.

The CSA will transfer your case over the next year or so but will not transfer it at your request or prioritise your for transfer due to 50:50. So you have to keep paying maintenance until it is transferred.

You could, in the meantime, try and claim the Child Benefit. In cases of 50:50 Shared Care for physical time spent with each parent the rival claims department will look at other things such as who has main financial responsibility for the child. If you can get the Child Benefit for now you won't have to pay maintenance even under CSA rules.