Maintenance

[lovenancy]

My friend receives £200 a month maintenance for her 2 teenage children, she cannot afford to divorce. I'm sure she could get more money through the CSA (or whatever they are called now) but he could lie about his income?! Any advice?

CMS can look at his tax records to establish income. Of course, if he's fiddling his tax, there's not much CMS can do.

Thanks for reply MrsBert. That's promising. I can't believe they would assess him as only having to pay £200 but it's a worry that they could say less?!

CMS formula also takes into account (a) any overnight stays of the children with the ex, (b) any other children that the ex is supporting, including new children.

If there are no other children, and no overnight stays, then £200 monthly maintenance would be consistent with the ex earning about £300 pw or around £15,000 a year (obviously well below average).

Possible risks to using CMS - if the ex was paying for other things, or assisting in other ways, that could be lost. If children are close to 18 then child maintenance won't continue for long anyway. It's notoriously hard to get 'right' money out of the self-employed or those running businesses, or those with undeclared incomes. Much easier with a civil servant or larger company employee.

If he only makes minimum wage it could be as low as £160 for two kids.

If he’s self employed or a company directory your friend is screwed if her ex isn’t honest.

Thanks both for your replies. There are other children in the new home. Friends children never stay over.

As the other posters have said it could go up or down dependent on his circumstances. Your friend needs to be prepared either way if she chooses to go thus route and as her friend I would only present the facts and not advise a position.
Divorce only has to cost the court costs which is around £500 - you do not have to involve a solicitor.