Maintenance changes during corona

[ShirleyValentine74]

My maintenance was agreed in my divorce settlement a couple of years ago. My ex contacted me last week to ask could he reduce the monthly payments for the next few months whilst he is taking a 20% pay cut during this virus. It will be for a few hundred pounds. Now I work full time but only on a low wage. I am currently furloughed so will be receiving 80% myself. He is a director of a company and brings home approx 5x my salary. He also has a live in partner who earns approx 5x my salary as well so there is quite a bit of money going into that household. Obviously dont know their outgoings.

I have the 2 kids living with me and they see dad eow but with self isolating they haven't seen him for a few weeks. Plus I have an underlying health issue so it suits me them being here to avoid infections.

The reduction will leave it tight for money but i could survive. Would you accept the reduction???

Well no if he genuinely earns 5 times you and is still employed but if you recalculated based on his 80% salary and you having 100% of nights his does it actually compare ?

Guess my point is I don’t think he should reduce but how much is it worth to hold out ? And how likely is he to argue

The simple answer is it’s not unreasonable of him to ask given the reduction in salary, the challenge for you is the decrease has a much more significant impact on you due to your wage. Do you have a good enough relationship to negotiate even just a 10% reduction rather than 20% and have you applied for the various “financial holidays” on offer by mortgage providers, councils (tax), credit card and loan companies? Many of these you can now apply for online and they take minutes. The answers come within days and so far I’ve not heard of many being declined. It may buy you some breathing space for a few months while we all get to grips with the reality of living through this pandemic.

Speak with CMS. If he is furloughed he will only get a maximum of £2500 a month so potentially a huge drop for him. If however he is taking a 20% cut then no it shouldn't affect your maintenance as CMS only changes if the paying parents has a 25% change in their salary.

My exh has text me to say he's being furloughed soon too and I reckon he's going to try and pull a swift one on me!