ex not got a job for september

[mrscolour]

My ex - who is a teacher has been on a short term contract and unsurprisingly it hasn't been renewed and he hasn't found himself another job for september. He says he is going to do supply work.

I'm just wondering where this is going to leave us. I don't know what sort of maintenance we can expect to get with an irregular income, if anything. Also, he has been having the children for tea every Thursday but I'm not sure whether this will be able to continue - if he was given a days supply on the other side of the county then he wouldn't be able to get to the childminder for 4 o'clock to collect the children and it wouldn't be fair for the childminder to be messed about.

I'm also wondering whether he will really stick around in this area if he doesn't get something a bit more long term and if he might end up going back to live with his family.

Any thoughts?

you'll just have to wait and see, I suppose. Lots of parents have jobs where they have erratic work hours and locations and it just has to be worked around. A regular night for tea may not happen as a result but there could be other times when he could have them for tea a few days in a row if he has a week off, so it could all be a bit more flexible. It's out of your control so I think you have to make plans for worst case scenario and then you're covered... As for maintenance, same thing, that may have to vary - same as if you were married to him and his income varied due to the irregular nature of his working schedule.

Is the chilldminder only paid till 4pm every day or only on that day? You may need to agree that she has the dc later that day occassionally if she has them later on other days too this should't be a problem should it?

Supply work can be erratic but not always. Is it secondary or primary that he teaches?

Have you asked him what he intends to do in terms of maintenance? Hard as it is the reality is he may not get a job for a while and so you will have to rebudget accordingly. It's often said on the boards here to try and treat the maintenance money as a bonus and not to rely on it if you possibly can.

I also put a small amount aside each month now from the maintenance I receive to cover the times when ex doesn't pay any. I figue if I don't need to use it then it can go towards a deposit on a car or driving lessons for ds (ex has been made redundant twice now hence why I do it - he gave me no warning both times and I didn't find out for several months as he chooses to pay quarterly)