Child maintenance advice

[LD233]

Maintenance question
My sons dad is having him for 4 nights next week
He usually has him every other weekend Friday to Sunday afternoon
He didn't pay me for 3 weeks in may due to him going on holiday (saying he couldn't afford it) which I was really annoyed about and it put me back massively

He is now saying as he's having his son for 4 nights next week he does not have to pay maintenance for 2 weeks again.

Even though I provide everything for our child in his care such as nappies wipes clothes food toys milk bottles car seat pushchair as he says that's part of the Maintenance!

I also am struggling with finances and return to work in 2 weeks and I am having to pay all the nursery costs on my own as he refused to help.towards that as well as me sacrificing my wages and going back.to work part time

He doesn't buy anything for our son everything I buy as its apparently part of the Maintenance and now he's refusing to pay for 2 weeks due to him having him for 4 nights next week (which does not happen often he doesn't have him much at all)

And he hasn't got to pay for childcare as when he has him his sister is looking after our baby for 2 days when he is at work.

He is also having another baby due end of the year so says my maintenance will go down more (he has another older child with the same woman) so this will be his 3rd. He is on a decent wage.

Should be not pay me maintenance for 2 weeks if he has him 4 nights next week?
Even though he didn't pay me for 3 weeks last month. I am furious but he just doesn't listen to me at all

Go through CMS, he doesn't get to pick and choose.

Go through cms! Also he pays for everything whilst in his care including clothes, food etc

Time to find out exactly what your rights are and get tough.

Go through CMS if you're not already and stop providing everything.

Email him and tell him you won't be sending nappies and clothes etc

Give him 1 month to also source a car seat and pram/buggy.

You are not there to smooth his life over.

I would prepare yourself that he'll likely disengage when the new baby comes and the maintenance will go down.

Go through CMS.

You don’t have to provide anything when your baby is in his care. That is not what maintenance is for. Hand over nothing. I’m sure as a parent he should be able to figure it out. Also go through CMS. Him doing 4 days does not mean not paying for his child for 2 weeks. What an embarrassment of a man actively choosing not to support his child.

This clearly isn't a man who you can have a private arrangement with. You will have to go through CMS. I hope he's employed not self employed.

Dont hand the child over with anything other than a favourite toy and the clothes they're in. He'll have to sort it out. Maintenance is for the days you have the kid not for all the kids needs

Maintenance is calculated based on the number of nights over a year. It's not done on a week-by-week basis.

Unfortunately he is self employed and tells me if I go CMS I will get nothing.

Well if he's self employed and would leave you with nothing, I would go with the above.

CMS will use his average weekly earnings from his most recent tax year.
so would be 2023-2024
was he self employed for that entire year?

he will have to prove that he is earning significantly less than last year for them to lower his payments.

Always go through CMS, it costs £10 to set up, and it means you never have to discuss money with your child’s father again.

This.
I am
LIVID that my child's father doesn't pay towards nursery.
There is no way I will pay for his nappies and milk etc when he's out and about with him. He can buy his own car seat. He still hasn't 1.5 years on he just takes him on the bus in his buggy 😆😆

Ah the good old CMS self employed loophole 🙄 yes there is a risk you’ll get less. Most of us only receive what the father pays himself directly from his job, which ends up being a pittance (mine was £17 a week despite him having the usual story of luxury holidays, cars, mortgage etc) there are too many easy tricks to hide the money. Makes me sick . There’s even online groups telling fathers how to manage their accounts to ensure they pay the least possible