maintenance of a step child

[TooTiredToDance]

If a couple are married, and have no children of their own, but the wife has a child from her first marriage, does the husband have to pay maintenance for the the step child, upon their divorce? The child has not been legally adopted by him, and the biological father has passed away. Thanks for your advice.

I wouldn't have thought so.

No hes not liable for maintenance, nor should he be

No but it says a lot about a man who would raise a child and then wash their hands of then because legally they can.

Them.

Yes, soontobesix but you could be married for a year. Should you then spend the next decade supporting a child?

This link suggests that there are cases where a court can order a stepparent to pay maintenance if they were a 'child of the family.' It's a bit vague though.

www.alternativefamilylaw.co.uk/en/cohabitation/child-maintenance.htm

Yes super you should support them if the child has no biological father and you took on the role of father.
Would you say that a biological father shouldn't pay maintenance because they separated from their child's mother when their baby was 12 months old?

No, I don't think that.

However, there is world of difference between a Step Child and a biological child. There is no way, in my mind, you should be financially supporting a Step child post divorce.

The biological Father would have contributed with his estate. The Mother is still providing for them.

ExH pays court-ordered CM for DS and DD who were from my previous relationship (he pays me spousal maintenance too). This was agreed by him and it was based on the fact that they are children of the marriage and he supported them as his own throughout our relationship. The biological father does not and never has paid maintenance, nor does he have any contact. DH didn't adopt them as the process seemed quite intrusive, but he took us all on as a package and has always treated them as his own. Our relationship didn't work out but I would never have married someone who wasn't prepared take on the full role of a father.

Not in the Uk.

Superscrimper, your attitudes live up to your name.

I wouldn't dream of providing things for my biological children that my step children cannot have. It's immoral.

No, if the child isn't adopted then the step parent would have no responsibility to support them after divorce.

We are in the UK and it was a English court that made the decision in our case.

Are the people saying no just giving their opinion or know this for a fact?

As some other posters have said, you need to look into the "children of the family" concept.

CSA rules are different to what courts can order regarding maintenance. I would not have been able to get maintenance via the CSA but even if ExH had been unwilling, my solicitor could still have argued for the courts to order CM (and had been successful in doing so in other cases where the stepfather had opposed it).