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Original poster

NRP sharing house with partner - claims on Child maintenance

11 replies

Resilienceismyname · 05/11/2021 03:48

Sorry for posting in chat but I needed the traffic.

I’m theorising a potential problem. Friend has a viscous ex wife (divorced before he met his partner). He lost almost everything in divorce but thought he could rebuild, however Covid struck and now he is just about surviving. He always pays regular CM - this is a priority. He has bought a house with a mortgage and would like to buy with his partner one day who has children. Potentially porting the mortgage as it was offered based on an old income (pre Covid, he is self employed).

If disaster struck and he is unable to pay Cm, he is under the impression from the CMS that he would be expected to sell his house and move in with a parent to ensure he still pays Cm.

My question is, if this were to happen but he shared a house with his partner who had her own children (not his), presuming they could survive on her income, would her house be safe since it’s part owned by him?

OP posts:
Nat6999 · 05/11/2021 04:52

No he wouldn't, he would have to do a change of income & probably pay something like £7 a week. Property doesn't come on to it unless he was claiming to be broke but living in a mansion.

HirplesWithHaggis · 05/11/2021 04:58

CMS is paid on income, not assets. So even if he won the lottery tomorrow, it wouldn't count towards his payments due. He certainly won't be expected to sell his house and move in with a parent - what if his parents were both dead?!

Someone has been feeding him bs. He should contact CMS and get a proper assessment.

trollopolis · 05/11/2021 05:57

CMS won't come after him.

But what sort of father is he, if he would rather take on a mortgage that he is concerned will over stretch him to the point he can't pay for his DC - who should be the greatest priority for spending that there is.

Why are you theorising this for him?

I'm assuming he's capable of running his own affairs. Though it does seem as if he might benefit from having a greater safety margin in his budgeting, if it is so clear to outsiders that it's going to be tight that it causes them to worry

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Original poster
Resilienceismyname · 05/11/2021 07:54

@HirplesWithHaggis

CMS is paid on income, not assets. So even if he won the lottery tomorrow, it wouldn't count towards his payments due. He certainly won't be expected to sell his house and move in with a parent - what if his parents were both dead?!

Someone has been feeding him bs. He should contact CMS and get a proper assessment.

This came directly from the CMS. His business is in trouble due to Covid, he is working hard to save it but only time will tell. He bought his house just before Covid - none of us we had any idea of what was about to happen to our jobs and businesses.

CMS said that if he had a parent he could move in with (he does, despite being late 40’s) then they would expect him to do that and sell his house in order to continue. It wouldn’t matter that he would live 3 hours away from his children.

Hence his thinking - if he were to move in with his partner and her children, could he potentially put those children at risk if his money was now tied up.

I’m posting this on here for traffic as hoped people had been in a similar position or knew of someone who had. He has read up and unearned assets can be taken into account with the CMS - money from renting out property, dividends if owing a company etc. It’s not just about income.

OP posts:
Herja · 05/11/2021 07:57

I assure you that when ex was made redundant (despite a mid size pay out), CMS said he didn't have to pay a penny. (Contact time wiped out the fiver a week from UC apparently.)

I have never heard of such a thing happening. USA, perhaps, but certainly not UK.

Kevinthesnipe · 05/11/2021 08:00

Not sure on the cms side but when we potted our mortgage we still had to do a full mortgage application as it’s the deal you port not the amount borrowed (we actually reduced the amount we had previously lent).

earlydoors42 · 05/11/2021 08:08

Money from renting out property and dividends are income though. Lottery win, inheritance and owning a house are assets. Those are different things. They don't make you sell your house and move in with a parent, they recalculate what you owe.

LethargicActress · 05/11/2021 08:18

Money from rent or dividends is still income, and of course that income should be taken into account for CMS. The asset would be the rental property itself, not the income it generates.

A potential problem that may be a long way off for now, is that if he moves in with someone else’s children, he will be expected to support those children that aren’t his if they go to university. The amount they are awarded for their student loans will be based on household income, including that of the parent that isn’t theirs, and they may end up without enough to live on if the step parent doesn’t support them. It is considered irrelevant that he is already paying for his own children. I know this isn’t what you were asking about, but it’s worth bearing in mind if you’re thinking of moving your children in with your ‘friend’.

HugeAckmansWife · 05/11/2021 08:29

Why is the ex wife vicious? She could only achieve what a judge allowed her to achieve in a divorce.. If she has the children most of the time she would very likely get more of the marital assets. The CMS says a lot of things but as frequently evidenced on here rarely actually does anything about ensuring the minimum due is in fact paid or uses the powers they, in theory, have. I'd get your 'friend' to seek legal advice regarding his situation and a pp makes a good point about him factored in to any resident children's uni costs in the future.

Original poster
Resilienceismyname · 05/11/2021 15:39

@Kevinthesnipe

Not sure on the cms side but when we potted our mortgage we still had to do a full mortgage application as it’s the deal you port not the amount borrowed (we actually reduced the amount we had previously lent).
Thank you for this, completely unaware it was the deal that is ported. Not the amount.
OP posts:
Original poster
Resilienceismyname · 05/11/2021 15:40

@LethargicActress

Money from rent or dividends is still income, and of course that income should be taken into account for CMS. The asset would be the rental property itself, not the income it generates.

A potential problem that may be a long way off for now, is that if he moves in with someone else’s children, he will be expected to support those children that aren’t his if they go to university. The amount they are awarded for their student loans will be based on household income, including that of the parent that isn’t theirs, and they may end up without enough to live on if the step parent doesn’t support them. It is considered irrelevant that he is already paying for his own children. I know this isn’t what you were asking about, but it’s worth bearing in mind if you’re thinking of moving your children in with your ‘friend’.

Thank you for replying. Again not something that has been considered and definitely worth banking for the future.
OP posts:
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