to not split the discount?

[schoolsaving]

Regular but NC as outing.

DS currently attends private school and fees split 50:50 with XH amicably but specific line 'school fees to be split 50:50' is in financial order. No maintenance paid as 50:50 care and clean break split with us i.e. no further claim on each other. Further relevant info is that since split I've reduced working hours and covered school holidays and XH has continued to work FT.

I've got a new full time job which includes 50% discount on school fees. Which of the below scenarios do you think is fairest?

A: fee discount reduces both our share and we split the cost of additional holiday childcare
B: fee discount reduces my share to nil and I pick up cost of additional holiday childcare
C: fee discount reduces my share to nil and we split additional holiday childcare

Thanks!

Surely no further claim means he shouldn't have a claim on your well earned discount?

B

C: fee discount reduces my share to nil and we split additional holiday childcare

surely its a benefit (like salary)

Follow the specific financial order. A

Or C .

What do you think he would he do in your situation?

Surely the wording of the order means it has to be A as the fees are halving therefore his 50% of that should halve?

Otherwise B if you "take" the full discount then its only fair you pay for the holidays extra sessions.

It depends how your job handles the discount, I suppose.

If the fees are £10k, and you are given a £5k credit to put towards the fees, then he still pays £5k and you have paid your £5k with the credit.

If it just applies a 50% discount to the fees, then you both owe £2.5k as per the court order.

C) the discount is part of your remuneration package. If this benefit was not offered they'd presumably need to offer higher salaries

Do you earn a similar amount to him?

By rights it's your discount so you should use it to reduce your half to nil. Particularly if you earn less than he does.

But I think if you earn the same or more than him it would be fair and amicable to reduce the overall cost.

C

It's your discount not his.

Guavafish the OP would still be adhering to the financial order. It just so happens that her half of the fees are covered by the discount she receives through her employment.

I think it depends on the nature of the job/discount. If you took a pay cut for the discount then B or C. If it is a salary sacrifice scheme again B or C. On the other hand if you have gotten a better paid position/less stress/wanted the job for whatever reason then I would gravitate towards A

Not C.

How about you share the discount but not 50:50 or does that get too complicated? It maybe would engender goodwill? NB I have no experience on financial settlements.

I assume you work at the school.

The discount is yours alone because it relates to your employment and thus reduces your share to nil.

If you chose to leave or were fired then you would not have the benefit of the discount. I also assume you are taxed as a benefit so the full discount isn't actually 50% in that case.

I assume your ex has benefits with his job such as private health possibly which you will not benefit from necessarily so there is no reason he should benefit from a perk of your job.

I assume that your job is at a related school so you get a staff discount rather than the discount being a salary sacrifice? If the latter then clearly you would be right to keep the discount for yourself as you would otherwise be earning more. If the discount is because all staff get their children educated at the "incidental cost" rate then I suspect that the legal position is probably that the fees are now lower and you both will have the benefit of the discount, unfair as that seems.

Would your ex agree that everything should be split equally between you including cost/responsibility for childcare and that any discount left over went into a savings account for university or if something happened that meant one or other of you couldn't work so you had a "buffer"? That way your daughter would get the benefit and it might therefore not cause acrimony with your ex?

This is a perk from your job so it's your discount.
If your ex received a regular bonus then he wouldn't have to share it with you, and this is as good as that for yourself.

Hi with C, you pay nothing towards school fees and then both split the childcare

Don't tell him and do B.

Oh wow, thank you, lots of responses. Here's the additional information that's been requested:

When we split we earned roughly the same but he kept most assets as he'd got them prior to marriage - I was fine with this but I effectively 'started again'.

Presumably his income has increased by more than mine as he's been working full time while I've been part time.

He would probably do B - he's not tight but neither would his first thought be to save me ££.

I've effectively taken a pay cut from my current position but will earn more 'money' as working FT not PT.

I wanted the job for less stress but he's benefited from free holiday childcare when I reduced my previous job for less stress too.

I think that's it...

He will know as he gets a copy of the school bill!

The court has ordered the fees (whatever they are) to be split 50/50.

If you don't agree with this (and I can see why you wouldn't) then you need to go back to court.

It's not fair, I agree, but you need to follow the order IMO.

I think the PP is correct in saying it technically depends how the discount is handled. I think you should speak to your work and make sure it is some sort of credit/money arrangement so that you can use it to cover your full 50%.

It will be a taxable benefit in kind and count as part of your salary so your ex should not benefit from in in my opinion.

C - it's your discount.

I would take legal advice. This is the kind of thing that can end up blowing up in the event of a misunderstanding. You don't want to have to pay a huge bill at a later point. I do think, however, that if the lawyers say you have to split the discount, then you have a basis for asking your husband to contribute in lieu of holiday childcare costs.