Court order, child maintenance & Exh h, more questions

[catkin14]

Following on from my posts last week exh, he is now telling me that if he has to go to court to change the order for child maintenance, i will have to pay costs. if he is trying to make changes wont he have to be the one who pays?

The court order states an amount rather than a percentage but Exh says he can make changes to the court order if reasonable and as he has had to take a small cut in salary feels he can now cut the child maintenance.
Thanks for help

When was the court order made? Normally if child maintenance was agreed in a consent order settling the finances on divorce either party can apply to the Child Maintenance Service for a calculation after 12 months. The exceptions are when the consent order predates March 2003, there are step children, one parent lives abroad or over 18s in higher education. When the CMS calculates payments the courts are notified and the consent order ceases to have any effect with regard to child maintenance.

On the other hand when circumstances change during the first year after a consent order was agreed the courts have jurisdiction and can vary the amount paid. It's in no one's interests to go back to court. Usually each party pays their own costs but when somebody doesn't comply with court rules or procedures or pursues an issue unreasonably causing unnecessary hearings a court may impose a costs order against them. IF there is evidence your ex-husband is earning less it isn't unreasonable to agree a reduction and you could use the resources and tools available on the CM Options website to help you negotiate.

The court order is 9 months old.
Exh says he had to take a small pay cut in may and therefore the amount i recieve in october will be half the normal amount as reduction will be backdated.
He is a very high earner.
i have now been told if he wants to change the amount he must present his payslips to the CMS, is this so?
Will the CMS get involved if the court order is less than a year old?

The CMS cannot be involved for the first 12 months after the order was made. If he will verify his pay cut by showing you his payslips I would try to negotiate a small variation to reflect the decrease in his income. When a change can be agreed it is possible to submit a consent order varying the monthly payments. On the other hand if his cut in income isn't verified I would let him apply to court for a variation. If a new order is made neither party will be able to apply to the CMS for another 12 months.

In the meantime the consent order remains in effect and any arrears are enforceable through the courts. The problem is if you apply for enforcement your ex may apply for a variation, the enforcement of arrears will be put off until the variation application has been heard and the court has ensured a debtor has the means to pay.