Ex-husband has lost his job and wants to stop paying maintenance but has a rental property...

[Henbird]

Hi - anyone know what the score is in this situation? My ex says he can no longer pay child maintenance (I don't get spousal maintenance from him) as he has lost his job and has no savings. He has remarried and his wife has a good job, they have a nice house, 2 nice cars etc etc. However, he also has a property in his name that he rents out. Surely this is an asset and could be used to provide some cash for his kids?

Assuming that ancillary proceedings concerning you and your ex are concluded the answer is `yes'.

Rent is an income and the children should receive benefit from that. If the property is owned between him and his new wife this will need to be taken into account however.

Thanks lostdad. It's solely owned by him so perhaps I can get him to part with some of the rental money

Could I just add I had the same situation, exH became unemployed and refused to honour the agreement we made between ourselves so I went to the CSA and he pays £10 per fortnight,which isn't oodles but its the principle of the thing .

Try the CSA then you never have to ask him for money again.

Rental income is classed as income, but if its only one house then he won't be making much profit - there are loads of expenses that can be offset - so the amount he'll be liable for via the CSA will be minimal.

BUT - he might be willing to continue to pay you something privately if you let him know that you'll be going to the CSA regarding the rental - so maybe it's worth a chat with him first. His DW's income is irrelevant - but if the DCs spend time in their family then she'll be financially supporting them directly while your ex is unemployed.

Absolutely is. Ex and I jointly own a rental ptoperty which makes a profit in excess of £200 monthly. I have seen 0% of that in over three years