Housing costs and child maintenance

[MG08]

My husband and I have recently separated so nothing has been sorted yet. He has moved out of our home and I have stayed with our 1 year old. I am paying utilities and he is paying the mortgage. I have asked for child maintenance and he says he cannot afford it.

Is he exempt from paying child maintenance because he's paying the mortgage? He has said the only way he can afford payments is if we sell the house, but me and our child obviously need a place to live and ideally I do not want to sell.

I know housing etc will need to be sorted out later down the line when we divorce but he hasn't lived here for a couple of months now and hasn't paid anything towards the care of our child. Is he exempt?

No you can not expect both. I would check the cms calculator and see what he should be paying

Have you seen if you are entitled to any benefits

I'm Not sure if in some cases the nrp pays half the mortgage as well as Mainteance with a view that once the child reaches 18 the house will be sold and split 50/50.

I would get some legal advice.

When I first spoke to the CMS I was asked if my ex was paying towards the mortgage as it can be taken into account for maintenance.

You need legal advice, but it's probably not realistic to expect the mortgage paid and maintenance on top of that, most people can't afford to do that and run a house for themselves as well. The house usually has to be sold in divorce.

Where is he living now and is he having to pay rent? If so it’s probably unrealistic to pay that plus the mortgage plus child maintenance? What’s his income and what is yours ?

Have you spoken about a longer term plan ?

If you know his salary then go to the CM calculator to find out how much you could expect. How does this figure compare to the mortgage figure?

Thanks for your replies. He isn't paying anything towards where he is now now he's with his parents, so no rent, no bills, money for food etc.

I have calculated what he would need to give for child maintenance and monthly it is less than a quarter of the mortgage amount. He's currently paying the mortgage as I was previously and he paid the bills, I was advised to swap so that I could apply for discounts with council tax, heating etc so this is what I have done. He pays the mortgage because he jointly owns the house, not to help me.

Are you likely to be able to afford all of the mortgage and bills at your current home with the child maintenance estimate? If not then you are going to have to start thinking about alternative living arrangements longer term.

And realistically you're unlikely to get all of the equity unless your husband has a large pension pot or there are other savings to offset

Him paying the mortgage rather than child maintenance is to your advantage. You can't use the fact that he lives with his parents to get child maintenance too. He only has to pay child maintenance amount legally.

If I were you I'd work out if you can pay the mortgage and bills in your income (child maintenance plus wages)

If not, you should sell the house now so that you have money for a smaller home or rental. If your h stops paying the mortgage, the bank will pursue both of you and he might want to move out of his parents house sooner rather than later, especially if he meets someone.

He doesn't HAVE to pay the mortgage though if he isn't living there. If he's paying both mortgage and bills I think you've got a good deal.

My home is already the smallest I can live in so I can't move to a smaller house, and he will never move out of his parents house now (long story which has led to the separation).

I may be able to just about afford mortgage and bills on my own but I'm not sure he'd give me his share of the house.