Family law - would this set a precedent?

[Csapayments]

Have name changed for this one. My DH pays his ex for their DCs via CSA and gives voluntary addition payments via direct debit. Our finances have taken a hit over the last 2 years and we may have to stop the addition payments. Can we do this or have we set up a precedent by paying her extra?

If there is no court order ordering payment to the ex, then it is legally fine to reduce the payments as long as he isn't paying less than the CSA amount.

It would be better to give adequate warning of the reduction.

No there's no court order. How much notice would be reasonable? We might be able to reduce slightly for a while before completely stopping the additional payments too. He will continue to pay the CSA calculated amount of course.

There is nothing in law that requires him to give any notice. It's entirely in his discretion.

I would give as much notice as you can, and the plan of doing it gradually sounds good too, as that will allow his ex to review her finances.

A friend of nine's ex has just done this, and he only gave a week's notice.

Thanks all,
We'll definitely give her more than a weeks notice! And we could reduce over several months if we're careful.
However good to know we can stop - I'm already having to do additional hours to meet the shortfall.