Claiming child maintenance after 50:50 child arrangements broken down

[NotApplePie]

Split with ExH in September 23. We maintained 50:50 child contact arrangements until September 24 when one dc decided they no longer wanted to go to exH’s house because he had moved in his new girlfriend and child when they had only met her twice. He’s trying to rebuild their relationship but only really sees this dc once a fortnight for a few hours. Other dc is fine and is maintaining 50:50 contact.

Due to us earning a similar amount and sharing the kids 50:50 child maintenance was never really needed. We have a shared account where we each put a set amount each month to pay for things the kids need which works fine. However I now find myself facing slightly increased food & utilities costs due to having one child 100% of the time. Would I be unreasonable to make a claim for child maintenance? And would you go straight to CMS or try to broach it with ExH?

Some extra information - dc is nearly 14, I only earn an average salary and ExH will only communicate via email - ignoring any that he doesn’t want to reply to.

I’d send an email informing him that you’ll be claiming maintenance for XX as they currently have them for no nights, and direct him to the CMS government website for his information.

At the same time I’d then fill in a claim for maintenance to get the ball rolling.

Give him the chance to contribute to the food bill etc first. If he refuses, submit a CMS claim.

I would raise it in the email .

if he ignores then go to cms

The shared account you both put funds into. Would he stop that and only provide the CMS legal requirement? If he gets petty is that less or more than CMS amount?

I would broach in email first to see if he would willingly offer more.

Check online how much you are entitled to. Then lay it out in an email about how much you would like him to contribute and if he refuses you will go via CMS where he will then incur further fees