My dd is 15 and up until she was 13 spent 50/50 of her time at her dad's. As she got to be a teenager she decided she didn't want to stay there as much and her time with him has dwindled to one day a week.
I've encouraged her to go there but she's adamant she wants to be with me, near her friends, school etc.
I've never claimed maintenance (never needed to when she was 50/50) but I'm I'm really struggling financially with supporting her all by myself so this week I've asked him to start paying me as per the CSA's calculator.
He's absolutely outraged. He says I don't need that much money and he'll have to sell his house if I force him to pay. He's saying I'm extorting money from him. He's gone in really hard. Says his wife is devastated and they won't be able to support their dd they have together.
I'm now having a wobble. I need the money, and I feel like my dd deserves it. But I hate all the animosity.
I suppose I'm just looking for some encouragement to keep going with it. And hoping others don't think I'm being unreasonable. Am I? I just feel like a massive bitch right now.