divorce - financial effect?

[medium7777]

Hi. How does it get decided how much of your earnings should be allocated to support ex wife? I know there is a minimum amount but I am talking about a realistic amount to support family?

Thanks.

Cost it out. How much will it cost to set up a household for her and the children? Can they stay in the family home? Will the children live with her or will you need to accommodate them also? Will they be living between two houses? What is her earning power?

Obviously there will have to be some changes, but try and keep them to a minimum for Your kids

Form E. You both fill out all your details if income and all expenditure and work it out from there, usually via mediation.

Thanks for your help. What I want to know is would I have anything left over from my income for my own living costs or does it all go towards support and you have minimum left over?

I should say that I want my kids to have a good future and not feel a lot of change which obviously requires a lot of contribution on my part. But I’d still like enough to get by. Just wondered if that’s possible?

Well it's possible of course. But depending on your income etc you may need to prioritise some things over others-cut your cloth to suit your circumstances so to speak. You wouldn't be expected to live in poverty and your kids be off to the Bahamas's twice a year for example. And your ex wife will also need to contribute to paying towards their upbringing as well, as soon as she is able to.

A good starting point is the child maintenance calculator on the government website. That will give you your minimum payment and then you can decide from there if that's a fair amount or not. I would say it usually isn't unless you are a hugely high earner and it obviously doesn't take into account moral responsibility-has your wife supported you by doing more at home whilst you have worked your way up at work for example? Would you now need to support her more financially for a time so she can pay for child care and work to support herself to a greater degree? Legally you might not need to-morally though-there may be a case for this.