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AIBU?

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Original poster

Ex husband has hidden

34 replies

oofbitsilly · 18/08/2023 09:46

Approximately £20,000 a year of his salary in pension or something to save £9 a month of maintenance?

Help me with the maths please, not sure I'm understanding my recent CMS letter.

He was paying £674 a month. It was our first year of going official after several years arranging it ourselves and him being a bit of a twat when I inherited after our divorce.

New calculation is £665. He hasn't changed job and contact remains the same.

CMS letter says the income AFTER pension but BEFORE tax and insurance is £82,000. It also says the income must go up or down by 25% to prompt a change in maintenance payable,

Am I correct in thinking he's engineered a way to do himself out of £20k gross income per year to facilitate £9 less a month? I mean, I know it's still there in a pension but he's 45 so won't be getting it for a while, surely...

YANBU - yes, he's a noxious dick and also a bit silly

YABU - no, you've done your sums wrong and you're the twat here

OP posts:
Original poster
oofbitsilly · 18/08/2023 11:31

RedPony1 · 18/08/2023 10:08

He hasn't done this to annoy you, he's being savvy with money and planning for retirement.

You're right about him being savvy with money and I appreciate his planning. But I do think he's done it because he genuinely believes he shouldn't have to pay for his kids because "you've got your mum's money now". He said it to me himself a couple of years ago.

OP posts:
Original poster
oofbitsilly · 18/08/2023 11:29

MatildaTheCat · 18/08/2023 10:06

To be fair I doubt he’s done this to thwart you, after all his own income is far more affected at the moment and he may well have been advised by a professional to do this.

Does he have regular contact with your DC? If so I’d just subtly engineer ways to ensure he makes up that payment each month. But then again I can be quite petty.

See, I think he has done it with maintenance in mind - he likely expected to save more than £9 a month. He has form for trying to avoid paying now he believes he is absolved from responsibility due to my inheritance.

Anyway, previously I paid for everything - clubs, uniforms, school residentials for ££££££ - because he made such a song and dance about paying maintenance and it was the only way to stop him taking me to court for 50:50 which would very much have been to the kids' disadvantage. Now I'll be asking him for £200 in September alone to cover half of the upcoming school trips 😂

OP posts:
winelove · 18/08/2023 10:13

By saving the additional £20k in his pension he has bought his salary down from £102k to £82k therefore taking him below the threshold of starting to lose his allowance. Probably doesn't cost him that much more in the scheme of things.

OhmygodDont · 18/08/2023 10:12

Sounds like his hit an age where his met with a financial planner to maximise his pension for retirement. My in-laws are forever having meetings with theirs.

If he was doing it to be sprite full he would stash more away surely.

RedPony1 · 18/08/2023 10:08

He hasn't done this to annoy you, he's being savvy with money and planning for retirement.

Butterflywings2 · 18/08/2023 10:08

I doubt he is doing it to be spiteful if the saving is only £9 a month, hardly worth the faff. I don't think I'd waste time giving it too much thought for £9 a month- if that's what CMS say I'd just grin and bear it.

MatildaTheCat · 18/08/2023 10:06

To be fair I doubt he’s done this to thwart you, after all his own income is far more affected at the moment and he may well have been advised by a professional to do this.

Does he have regular contact with your DC? If so I’d just subtly engineer ways to ensure he makes up that payment each month. But then again I can be quite petty.

DailyMailHater · 18/08/2023 10:03

i can’t vote as I don’t agree with either option…..I can’t believe he is paying more into his pension just to save £9….maybe he has just started to save more in his pension….working in the pensions industry previously a lot of blokes get to 45-50 and suddenly decide they need to put more away as they realise they aren’t getting any younger.

Dotjones · 18/08/2023 09:59

He's presumably paying more into his pension because that way it's not taxed. If he's 45 he can take the pension in ten years' so he'll be saving 20% or whatever by doing this plus the £108 per year he saves in maintenance costs.

From a financial point of view it makes perfect sense to pay as much as possible into your pension from as young as possible. £20000 with ten years to mature is a lot better than £20000 with five years to mature.

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