Child maintenance when XH works abroad

[RagingWhoreBag]

Separated from XH about 7 years ago. Divorced through Wiki to save money and never quite got round to finalising financials, as I wanted him off the deeds but ON the mortgage so that I could stay in the house with the DCs. He was happy with that in the short term, but has recently been making noises about getting his name off the mortgage.

As a low earner I wouldn’t get another mortgage on my own and should probably have had a Mescher order at the time, but I know they’re not very fashionable these days so didn’t want to risk being forced to take a clean break, meaning I had to sell the house.

He was earning about £50k at the time and it hasn’t gone up much since. I’ve always been SAHM and low earning self employed so have no pension or savings. I am expected to do all childcare, regular orthodontist appts for 2 DCs, school holidays, weekends etc. He has them once a week on a school night in between work shifts and then has two days off a week to himself.

We agreed between us that I could stay in the house and would get 100% of the equity (about £100k at the time) as my inheritance from my DPs was used as a deposit. He was to keep his pension, which was about £65k at the time, plus he had earning capacity and no real responsibility for the DCs beyond paying minimum CSA.

House has since increased and I now have about £250k equity, but as the mortgage is based on his income I need him to remain named on it and am unable to access that money without his say so, unless I sell the house.

He is now looking to move abroad for work and will be earning £120k+ Tax free. I have a feeling he will try and stuff me on the maintenance. He’s always paid the minimum CSA amount for 3 DCs based on his income and has them between 0-52 nights a year.

Is there any benefit in me seeing a solicitor to look at the division of finances again, or am I likely to end up worse off, as my house is now worth more, and will his new income not be counted for being offshore?

Sounds like the agreement you made 7 years ago was mutual and not formalized Legally? I am not a family solicitor so can't comment on assets. However, I too work overseas so can comment on child maintenance.

CMS uses UK Taxable Income to calculate maintenance. That your Ex is working overseas and paid Tax free does not necessarily mean that he is Non-Resident for UK Tax purposes. All depends on how long he spends in the UK during the Tax year which runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year.

To qualify as Non-Resident your ex's overseas working will have to span a full UK Tax Year (April 6 to April 5) and spend less than 91 days per Tax Year in the UK. So if he was to start working overseas around now he would have to be in full time employment till at least 5 April 2020 to span a full financial year (6 April 2019 to 5 April 2020).

If your ex does not meet the requirements of a full tax year and less than 91 days per tax year in UK then he will be UK Resident for Tax purposes and hence have a UK Taxable Income that CMS can assess for Child Maintenance even if he is paid Tax Free elsewhere.

If ex does become Non-Resident then CMS would have no further involvement unless he has a UK source income such as; dividends, rental income, interest on savings.

For his foreign earnings you may have to rely on the REMO (Reciprocal Enforcement Maintenance Order) system. For that to be successful you would need to know in which Country your ex is working and check if it is a REMO Country. If not a REMO country then it may be that you have to seek advice from Legal people in Country.

I don't know anyone who has used REMO, but get the feeling it could be a long drawn out exercise before anything happens.

I work overseas and convert my earnings to UK pounds and use the online calculator as I thought that was fairest way for child maintenance.

Good luck

CMS would also have jurisdiction if he works for a UK company abroad.

Look on the following link for advice about what can be done if Ex works abroad:

www.gov.uk/child-maintenance-if-one-parent-lives-abroad/ex-partner-works-for-british-organisation

Thanks for the info Missed - the country isn’t a REMO one and apparently he will get 50 days holiday so will be to all intents and purposes a citizen of the other country (Middle East)

Collaborate the company is not UK based. Sounds like I’m fucked then!!

Then you will need an order in the UK courts. If he ever wants to return to the UK any time in the future (eg to have contact) he will pay. there are quite good enforcement powers that involve terms of imprisonment for wilful refusal to pay.

To OP

Sounds like you could be faced with a long uphill battle, but don't give up yet.

I am not family solicitor so might be off the mark completely, but £120k+ Tax free is equivalent to a UK gross salary of £210K. CMS has jurisdiction up to £156K (£3K per week). For two DC the assessment would be £392 per week based on the online calculator which is worth fighting for. For earnings above £3K per week you can apply to the courts for additional maintenance above CMS assessment, but I don't know how it would be calculated. Even using £120K as gross earning give a maintenance figure of £308 per week.

Good luck

You need a proper financial settlement. If he is paying the mortgage, that is quick the a contribution.

What happens if he stops that, and you receive only CM? Can you make the sums add up? Based on his actual pay, not what it could be 'worth' in a different country, and with resilience in case the job doesn't work out and he returns to UK and current earning level.

The best way of achieving that resilience is for you to get a job.

If you don't fancy that, the other way is to sell up and move to a property you can afford on your own current income.

Thanks all, that’s really useful.

He doesn’t pay the mortgage, it’s just calculated using his income, so his name is on it. That was the agreement when we divorced to save the DCs too much upheaval.

I could sell up and use the equity to buy a small place mortgage free, but I have 3 DCs who have always had their own rooms (DS 18, who has his GF stay over a lot, DS14, DD12, so not really good sharing ages) and I’d feel even more pissed off that just as XH is going off to earn mega bucks his DCs are being moved to a shit area and a smaller house. His contribution should enable them to live a life comparable to the one they’d have if they lived with him. I know that’s rarely the case, but that’s why it’s based on income and not what it actually costs to raise a child isn’t it.

Think I will speak to a solicitor and try to lock things down financially. I guess that will also be in his best interests, as technically he still owns half the house but then, if I understand it correctly, I’ll still be entitled to half of whatever he earns until we get the financial order sorted.

To OP

Is there an existing CMS assessment in place? If so then your ex has an obligation to inform where he is moving to and give details of his new income as going from £50K gross to £120K tax free is more than a 25% increase.

Good luck

He falls outside CMS jurisdiction now. He has no obligation to inform them of anything, though obviously if he was previously assessed he would have informed them immediately on leaving the UK,