Maintenance question...how much?

[EveryDayTheSame]

Just asking to compare really....

My now ex-p is going to give me £250 per month for our 2yo DD. He takes home roughly £1650 per month after tax etc.

How does this compare to others?

I think there's a calculator in the csa site?

iirc mine is 20% of xp's salary for 2 dc's. something like 15% for one child and can be altered if they stay a certain number of nights with him.

I think I read 10% to 15% of take home pay for one child and 20% for two. Of course some people will get a lot more than that and others nothing at all. That amount on its own will hardly do very much for a household budget.

Use the CMS calculator. It's now based on gross pay rather than take home pay and includes benefits such as health insurance, company car, annual bonus etc.

You can agree any amount of maintenance you want between yourselves. Research shows parents are more satisfied, more likely to adhere to the arrangements and pay more towards their children if they can agree arrangements between themselves.

If separated parent start negotiations from a fixed position of what they want and argue for it alone it's the adversarial "you versus me" approach or a zero sum game. Each side starts with an extreme position and proceeds from there to negotiate and make concessions. The problem is as negotiations progress the parties tend to be more committed to their positions constantly restating and defending them.

That wastes time and causes conflict damaging long term family relationships more than necessary. There is every probability no agreement will be reached. Alternatively neither party will be satisfied with any agreement reached because it's a compromise reflecting a mechanical splitting of the difference between final positions.

A more constructive and efficient way to negotiate is to first identify each others interests and look for collaborative win-win resolution that meets the needs and concerns of both sides. The CM Options website has information and tools to help parents come to a family based arrangement.