Child maintenance- 20%?

[ChloeR81]

Hi, I’m looking for some help on Child Maintenance. I have a lawyer but I’m not getting any helpful guidance (maybe not a good lawyer, think I need to change).

Is the general rule on CM for 2 children that it’s 20% of net income including annual bonus? This would be for quite a high earner. Soon to be ex husband is claiming it doesn’t include bonus but I think it does. A lot of his income is bonus based so this would make a big difference.

Also, if it goes through the courts for a high earner do you usually get awarded more than 20%?

Thank you!

Usually the bonus has to form part of the normal pay expectations. It could be argued it's not guaranteed but if he's got a history of receiving it then you can argue the point.

It's now based on gross income minus any pension contributions. Then the rate is 16% for two children.
It is slightly different for very high earners. Court ordered maintenance only lasts for a year and then either party can apply to convert to CSM rates.

Thank you so much for the quick replies!

So would 20% of monthly net salary (payable monthly) plus 20% of bonus when/if he gets it be the standard?

Is 16% of gross more or less than 20% of net? Sorry if I’m being dumb.

For context base salary would be £110k plus large discretionary annual bonus. I feel a bit bullied by him and like I’m being shafted so just want to understand what the ‘minimum’ CMS would be for this.

Plug it into cms calculator inc any nights he’ll have them which would reduce the amount

Exc and bonus ( which Is not guaranteed ) and assuming children stay 1-2 nights a week you should receive somewhere around £220 pr week ( depending on pension contributions)

Child maintenance unlikely to be awarded more through courts but could order spousal ( even if shirt term and time bound) . Will be dependent on many factors though
And you’ll be expected to maximise your own earnings to allow you to become financially separate ( aside from child maintenance)

The cms calculator is a good starting point but I'm asking for spousal on top.