How do you know how much child support to ask for?

[Mummalish]

This is all new to me, obviously ex will need to give me some money every month, but have no idea what to ask for, etc.

Can anyone advise?

Hi Mummalish,

I think there are quite a few ways to go about this.

One route is to go through the Child Support Agency who will assess the fathers income and then deduct an amount from his wages and pass it on to you. Their calculation is here, so if you know roughly how much he earns, you can work out how much you would get.

I'm sure other people will have more advice about the CSA and other ways of arranging maintenance payments.

Use the CSA calculation as a startpoint for income. However, the csa calculation assumes that the parent paying maintenance is getting a regular wage and that you don't have unusual childcare costs like private schooling or an expensive sport/hobby to fund or any extra costs for a sn child. As time goes on you will need to deal with unforseen things like holiday costs if going with friends or allowances or driving lessons so be prepared to renegotiate every so often.

Thank you, used the calculator, doesn't seem like I will get too much:(

Am certain he wont give more willingly, he is quite tight at the best of times, and has been know to lie about how much money he has.

Let's see what happens.

Mummalish, go onto this website and they will tell you what you can claim on top of what he gives you.

It's very difficult at first but a lot of women find themselves a lot better off, to be honest.

Good luck.

It's meant to be 20% of their weekly earnings..but then you have to take into account if exp has them overnight at all.

Be prepared for the amount suggested by the CSA to be a shock for your ex. My ex proposed an amount nearly half that suggested, although he has agreed to the csa amount,I have yet to see my account looking healthier.