AIBU - child maintenance

[LatentPhase]

Ok so, I get it, you go on the Child Maintenance Calculator and the parent receives CM is the one who does the ‘care’

But with late teens, who is this? I think they sort of demand the same in each house.

OH re-negotiating with his ex. Kids are late teens. Pretty much exactly 50/50 care. Only difference is his ex buys updated school uniform and pays dinner money. Everything else is split down the middle - lifts, support, haircuts, parents eves, school support.

Calculator states OH should be paying £210 per month. This seems to not reflect the reality with kids at this stage.

AIBU?

If everything else is split 50:50 (and truly 50:50) then why doesn't your OH contribute half of the uniform and dinner costs?

If costs and time are truly shared 50:50 then neither parent should be paying maintenance to the other. If this isn't the case, as it seems to be currently given there are things your OH doesn't contribute to, then he should pay maintenance to make up for that.

Do they spend equal time in each house? Overnights etc? Then calculator would reflect that.

If genuinely 50/50 perhaps offer to split the aforementioned big costs

How many kids are there?

With 2 kids dinner money will be £100 per month. Then uniform on top. If everything is 50/50 why should she pay that alone?

One dependent 15yo
One 18 year old.
Number of overnights is the same although at hers more in hols.
Obviously he should be paying half of annual uniform cost for one child - but that’s not £210 per month?

18 is a separate equation as she is currently out of education although that’s being sorted and costs should be split 50/50

Surely it bases it on nights so if she has them more then it will expect him to pay her. Why not just make an agreement between yourselves about sharing cost of clothing (Inc. School uniform) which is a big expense for teenagers and school dinners?

Teenagers eat a lot so it may depend how many more nights she does too as you said 50/50 but then they stay with her more in the holidays

Who gets the child benefit? That is who is eligible to receive maintenance, with a deduction for how many nights the other parent has them.

If the 18 year old is in non advanced education and someone still getting CB for them then maintenance is still due.

If they're 50/50 he shouldn't need to pay any regular maintenance to their mum? The overnights are calculated per year so it doesn't matter whether the majority of her nights are in the holidays rather than school time.

If it's genuinely 50/50 then he should stop paying the maintenance and then just split all costs including uniform and dinner money.

Doesn't it also depend on what happened when they were younger and what salaries each parent gets? (I don't know btw but I would imagine it should).
For example, one parent gives up same job when children are younger (mutually agreed), and loses future earning potential.
Or another example, one parent earns £10k and the other £100k.

Mum earns significantly more than dad and always has.

How many nights a week does the teen stay over at your house? Have you put that in the calculator accurately?

Doesn't it also depend on what happened when they were younger and what salaries each parent gets? (I don't know btw but I would imagine it should).
For example, one parent gives up same job when children are younger (mutually agreed), and loses future earning potential.
Or another example, one parent earns £10k and the other £100k.

Not through CMS, that only happens when a settlement is done through court.

Do you want to claim their child benefit or do you want to stop paying maintenance? They are separate departments, if they are registered historically with school, doctors dentist etc. as living with their mother you would have a hard time getting your hands on their child benefit.

Mum's income is completely irrelevant on the CMS calculator. Just the same as the costs are - it's a straight percentage of the NRP's salary minus a deduction for time spent with them.

Not trying to switch anything re child benefit

Don't think the calculator understand the concept of 50/50, usually the maximum nights you can enter is 3 nights per week so the other parent would be preserved to have them 4 nights so would be entitled to some money.

"Are there any". It's not based on income. You are mixing up spousal and child maintenance.

Calculator states OH should be paying £210 per month. This seems to not reflect the reality with kids at this stage.

In this case even if your OH has pretty much 50% shared care the calculator is assuming he won't be splitting any other costs with the RP such as dinner money, uniforms, school trips etc - the £210 should cover this. However the CMS calculator is only there to provide a guideline, there is nothing preventing parents from coming to their own agreement.

Even if your still think the £210 is too much ultimately the NRP has the "privilege" of being able to choose to walk away/reduce contact hours if they want to and the RP would just have to suck it up. Not recommending this of course but the whole issue of child contact and maintenance is a swings and roundabouts thing imo.

Just to clarify me saying the CMS calculator is only there to provide a guideline, I should have added where parents can sort it out between themselves. Otherwise it's an enforceable amount obviously in theory

Only difference is his ex buys updated school uniform and pays dinner money.

So she does pay out more then? Uniform can cost a fair bit, and lunches are what £4/5 a day?

There is so much to costs for teenagers than what you've pointed out. mobile phones, pocket money, school trips, every day clothes, revision books, activities, driving lessons, exams fees and more I can't even think about.

Are all these really 50/50! How do you work it out?

Uniform expenditure varies by year. This year amounted to a jumper! Which is fine. Other years would be more. Plus shoes - of course. Although he didn’t need any this year.
I just think £210 plus child benefit seems a lot as a reflection of those things. School trips all split as separate payments.

It should be 50/50 exactly. For 2 children uniform including shoes costs me at least £700 a year. Dinners cost me £1560. Your oh should be paying more

£210 plus child benefit is nothing really when you’re taking about multiple children. Maybe just enough to contribute towards one. How many children are there?

Are you serious @Raphael34

If it is true 50/50, Regulation 50(2) of the Child Maintenance Calculation Regs 2012 applies, and no maintenance is due frkm either parent. The online calculator doesn't recognise this - nor do many CMS staff! So you often need to point them to the relevant bit of law.

However, this requires equal shared care. It may be that this is not the case for you, because the kids spend more time with their mum during the holidays. In that scenario, it might still be possible that no maintenance is due (there is emerging case law on this), but most likely it would be payable.

If it is true 50/50, logic days both parents should meet half the costs of things like uniform, mobile phones, hobbies etc. However, the law is silent on this - it is entirely for the parents figure out. My ex doesn't pay a penny towards any of those things.

So your first step is to work out if it is truly eqial shared care, and therefore whether Rwg 50(2) applies. If it is unequal, then the figure produced by the calculator is correct.