Global maintenance order issues with ex

[tabbycandykitten]

Ex DH and I split 3 years ago following his repeated infidelity and many other big issues. He left the family home with me and our twins who were under a year old.

I started divorce proceedings and our house was sold.

Upon the advice of my solicitor, as ex-DH was self employed and known to conceal his income, as well as showing that he would leave me and the children financially destitute (example: he drained our joint account just before Christmas whilst I was on mat leave to take a woman on a long weekend away), I was advised to seek a global maintenance order rather than child maintenance as it would be court enforceable.

He agreed to this (chose not to seek his own legal counsel) and his financials were submitted to the court as part of the application and they accepted this. The amount I was received PCM was slightly higher than if is have gone through CMS. However I was going back to work full time and so had no choice but to put the twins into full time childcare as well as wraparound care so costs were extortionate. He did not offer any help with having the children during the week and only sees them 2 nights a week every other weekend

House sold, I bought my own. Costs have gone down slightly at preschool but I still have to pay some fees as well as wraparound care. And of course, all other costs associated with keeping two 3 year olds fed, clothed, housed and warm. It’s not been easy at all. He collects them every other weekend for 2 nights but the actual parenting is left to me.

He chose to move 80 miles away. Started to rent a 2 bed house with his partner but my understanding is they split and now he’s liable for the rent. His parents are close by and have a large house but he says he won’t go to live there. Recently he’s been asking me to contribute towards his fuel when he collects the twins, as well as towards their food when he has them. I have absolutely told him NO!

Last week he said his outgoings have increased a lot (debt, cars etc) and he needs to pay me less. He said he’s been on the child maintenance calculator and wants to pay me that amount rather than the amount on the global maintenance order.

I’ve said I won’t agree to any changes unless it’s agreed through the courts. My costs remain high and I don’t see why the children’s quality of life should suffer because he has managed his money badly.

He said he’s would apply to the court for a variation of the maintenance order. However I have now had calls and messages from the child maintenance service! I don’t want to go through them if I can avoid it, I’ve heard many nightmare stories and to my mind the court order supersedes the child maintenance service?

Any words of advice?

You cannot stop him going through the CMS. The global maintenance order will remain in force but will be reduced by the amount of the CMS calculation, so he will still have to pay you the same amount in total. If, for example, the global maintenance is set at £1,000 per month and the CMS calculate child maintenance as £300 per month, he would have to pay you £300 via the CMS and £700 for global maintenance. He is wrong if he thinks going through the CMS is a way to reduce his payments. I suggest you explain this to him. If he understands that, he may change course and stick to global maintenance.

Thanks for your reply @prh47bridge- this is what the order says re any CMS award- that the total amount would still be payable less any CMS payment. I explained this to him and he said he had some free legal advice and was told a court order is only valid for a year. I asked him if he showed the order to his “legal advisor” and he said no… so I suspect they didn’t understand the order in place.

I am slightly concerned because if his income has reduced (I don’t believe it has significantly- but his outgoings probably have increased) and my income has increased (got a slight pay rise from work this year) the maintenance order may be adjusted to reflect this. Which seems unfair as I have worked myself to the bone to stay employed whilst raising the children and then secure a promotion… meanwhile he’s just been living on credit cards carelessly.

I guess I’ll have to see what happens next…

Explain to him that a court order for child maintenance can be replaced by the CMS calculation after one year, but an order for global maintenance is different. His free legal advice assumed he had been ordered to pay child maintenance. The answer would have been different if he had told them he was paying global maintenance or showed them the order.

It may be that the CMS calculation will be less than he currently pays, but he will still have to pay the same amount in total. It might be worthwhile getting your solicitor to write to him explaining this.

CMS is only based on his income, not yours. They don’t usually take outgoings into account t unless these are pension contributions or maintenance/costs for other children. I think there may be some exceptions to this if he can demonstrate hardship but otherwise payments are based solely on income

Thanks - I had thought so. My concern with any CMS claim (which is why I didn’t go for this years ago) was him being self employed so I know he can hide his income.

I was more concerned that if we went back to court to have the maintenance order varied, he could argue that his circumstances are worse now than when we agreed it, and mine are better.

FWIW he’s more qualified in his career than I am, but chooses not to earn more and make poor financial choices. Whereas I have worked hard and basically lived frugally for years and am only now a little better off because of a recent promotion.