Child maintenance and spousal maintenance from contractor ex husband

[Ashchan]

Hi! Been married for 9years of which 2years of separation.divorce is on the way and got two kids aged4&7. Gave up my career in IT to raise kids but meanwhile was doing part time admin work for husbands limited company as he was a contractor and we shared the earning as salary and dividends between us.now,though I have worked in his company, my earning potential is much lesser than him and I have to start my career from square one.In this case,I would require spousal and child maintenance to continue living comfortably.He gets paid into his business account,from which he chooseS the amount as a monthly salary and pays himself.now that we have to calculate the maintenance based on his salary,he says it has to be calculated from the salary that he takes out every month and probably some dividend and not calculated based on the original amount he receives from the company that has employed him.this is just a loophole he is trying to use to get out of paying me what am entitled to.he takes a meagre 20percent if his original earnings as monthly salary and wants to show that as is his earning per month.how do I go about this?anyone who has faced similar issue with an ex who was a contractor? Apparently it isn’t illegal so am very concerned as to how I can survive till I get back up on my feet.please don’t judge by saying I should take care of my self because I have gone way beyond my potential to be in the marriage. Seven years of raising kids all by myself without a single help from husband or anyone, not a single cook cleaner nanny or baby sitter has stepped into my house though we could have afforded it.and staying sane through nine years of constant criticism,gas lighting,psychological and emotional abuse. Appreciate any help please!thank you xx

You need legal advice but this will be difficult to be honest. Spousal isn't awarded much these days though it will depend on his actual income of course. You will be expected to work, though obviously around your children as they are still fairly young. I would be looking more at assets like houses, savings and pensions as these will be split according to need. However, a divorce will always mean an adjustment in life style and I would avoid putting yourself in a situation where you rely on money from him. He could lose his job, remarry and have more children etc and that will affect maintenance.

You do need legal advice.

Most of the divorced women around me get spousal maintenance when they divorce.

Thanks for your replies! @BarbedBloom yes am trying to find part time work.until I earn decent amount of money and sustain my self ,I would like to receive what am entitled to. As @underneaththeash said,am hoping to hear from women who receive maintenance so I can wrap my head around it. Am taking legal help but I also want to hear from people who have experienced something similar so I can understand what I can expect in the future. Thank you xx

That makes sense. I just wanted to warn you as both of my friends were denied spousal maintenance as their husband, who had a business didn't earn enough, but am sure you will get advice from your solicitor who will be used to this sort of thing.

Hopefully more people with experience may come along soon. It may be worth posting in the divorce section as I imagine there will be lots of people with relevant experiences there. All the best

As you worked for the company you must have an idea of the trend in terms of dividends over the past few years so can produce evidence of this? Dividends are income. The argument would be that he couldn't realistically live on the low salary (without the dividend) I guess.

However, just a warning re income levels for the future; depending on what sort of contractor he is his income may be severely affected by IR35. I used to freelance in IT and a lot of roles are now being brought in house as HMRC has put the responsibility on the employer to decide whether someone is inside or outside. As they are risk averse they are mainly saying either everyone is inside or getting rid of contractors altogether. My accountant is having to go out and look for a whole new client base as so many contractors are closing their companies.

Take advice as if you were receiving dividends before, you must own part of the company and should still get them (if there are any being paid, that is)

My ex did this. I got nothing in terms of spousal maintenance and I according to the CMSim entitled to £68 per month for two kids although he's been earning £80k+ for the past 5 years. He pays himself £145 a week. Sorry to tell you but I think you have to view yourself as the solution to your financial problems, not your ex. Your lifestyle, and sadly that of your kids, is going to have to change.

In this sort of situation I have generally seen that the resident parent gets a bigger share of the assets to account for their lower earning potential. What property do you have? Does your ex have a pension?

Thanks for your responses! IR35 hasn’t affected him I believe @Mrstraveller! @Kez200 the thing is, he is clever and has closed down the limited company that I was a part of and has opened up a new ltd company in his sole name and has got his new contract into that company so I won’t have anything to do with it. So the company that we both were a part of is in the process of being dissolved now. @surlycurly that’s so unfair isn’t it. It’s such a big loophole and I cannot believe that CMS and the govt wouldn’t do anything against it to protect the lesser earning spouses and also the children.imagine if this person were in a permanent job, the amount they are capable of taking home would be much higher. May I ask if you work? And did u not appeal to the court regarding this? It’s clear as daylight that they are doing this to avoid paying maintenance and that makes me so annoyed. @Cluckyandconfused we own our house together and also some money in savings. Which he says he is willing to split equally.but as you say, am not sure if that would be fair as am parting with two kids nd he is just a Single person so I believe my share should be higher.the thing is, if me n my solicitor do propose this nd he doesn’t agree n things re escalated to the court, what are my chances of receiving whAt I have asked for, is my confusion!!

IR35 might well affect him soon.

I have no experience of this but I though you could ask for a variance when going through csa (or what it is called now) if your ex is getting income from things like dividends.

You will want to get some specialist device on this. However, the dividends that your ex gets from his company will be declared in his next self assessment and in his company annual accounts. Based on these I believe you can raise variation with CMS to adjust your claim. The downside is that this will be some time after the dividends are actually paid as they won't be included until the next return.

Take advice as if you were receiving dividends before, you must own part of the company and should still get them (if there are any being paid, that is)

but he can open new company and contract through that

Why would you get spousal you haven’t been together long enough. Earn your own money like most of us do

With someone this determined to be an arsehole that he would pretend to cut his income down to £150 a week you're better getting all of the house and all of the savings

My ex earns more in a month than I earn in a year but he pays himself a pittance through his limited company. It hurts like hell, I can't afford to live despite working full time whilst he lives an amazing life. The only thing that keeps me sane is that im not under his thumb anymore....priceless!!

Are you sure he isn't affected by IR35? There are very few contractors who won't have to go inside, which means closing down their company and taking it all as salary through some kind of umbrella company. He might be lying to you about the new contract being outside IR35 and through a new Ltd company of his own...

It takes effect on 6th April, so although he almost certainly knows what will happen then, there won't be any concrete difference yet.

Definitely get legal advice.

I work full time and earn less than half than he does. Everything was split 50/50 in the divorce, including the 60 grand of matrimonial debt he had run up on credit cards and loans. I never spent a penny of it and I never benefitted from a penny of it. He financially abused and controlled me for the course of our marriage giving me no access to any money other than £300 housekeeping a month. And I paid off half of everything when we divorced. I had to. There is no justice for someone who gave up their career to support their family so their husband could earn the big bucks. I had two different lawyers and used every penny I had trying to get more out of him. I got nowhere and used my savings doing it. And I had to sell the family home as he refused to sell it to me even though I could have afforded to buy him out. I was totally fucked over and now totally support his children when he chucked his job to move to Norway to live with his new wife, without so much as a goodbye to his kids. Classy guy.