Child maintenance 50/50 shared car

[standyourground1]

Hi, the courts have just awarded 50/50 shared care lives with both for our 2 children around a set routine. Week on week off. dad receives the child benefit of £130 as this was how it was set up when we were a family. He had a better paid job than me when we broke up but in the last year he has changed his job and now works part time which has halved his wages. He basically doesn’t work the weeks he has the kids. I’ve been warned by a mutual friend he will apply for child maintenance. He pays for one of the childrens school dinners which is £55.the others is fee until September when they go to year 3. Pretty much most other costs are split. We both buy our own uniforms, coats, food, hair cuts and both take the children to doctors and dentist when it’s on our time. Will I need to pay anything because I now earn more as he stopped working half the time? Gov website says no when it’s 50/50 shard care lives with both but when you fill out the calculator it’s saying I’d have to pay £180 a month.

Your arrangement seems quite reasonable.

Are things difficult between you and your ex? It seems unlikely that he will ask for maintenance if everything is going so smoothly.

What is the discrepancy in your incomes? Unless it's very high it's unlikely he will get anything from you on 50/50.

People with 50/50 shared care plans often claim the child benefit for one child each so it is fair on both parents. You wouldn’t be unreasonable to do this

Thanks for your replies, in answers to the questions above:

• Im on 30k and dad would have been on 32k but went part time so now half that. They also work cash in hand in a pub on the side
• things have been difficult and high conflict but with the new order being set days and school handovers (no longer at each other homes), it should get better.
• I didn’t know if you could split the child benefit. Maybe I was told they can split the benefit for both children 50/50 but you can get a payment for 1 child to go to dad and the other payment for the other child to come to me. Do I need to make a claim for this? During the court process dad documented he would share the payment but in later hearings refused saying “as he works but time he needs the money for bills”.

More likely he's dropped to part time then claiming universal credit, as he gets the child benefit it allows him to claim for the two children on his claim bumping it up substantially

Agree with Sprinkles- he will want to claim for both boys so his Universal Credit award is higher.

Technically you should have claimed for one child each but you should maybe use this knowledge to negotiate him using you share of the Child Benefit to pay for something that you normally pay for so he can claim Universal Credit with both boys on the claim.

Are you both likely to always live near each other ? The parent who claims the child benefit sometimes has more “power” like being able to choose the child’s school in 50/50 care situations. Just thought I’d warn you of that possibility.

Benefit payments can’t be shared in the sense that they won’t send parents with 60/40 custody 60% to one parent and 40% to the other. In the case of CB, they encourage 50:50 parents to claim for a child each for fairness

Claiming the CB opens up the possibility of a Universal Credit claim because it looks like he’s the majority parent who needs help with childcare, housing etc If you have a UC credit claim or need to make one in future then “losing” the child benefit may affect your eligibility to help.

Yeah he began claiming universal credit when he went part time apparently. Should I contact the cms people to show them 50/50 shared care lives with both order and say that one payment needs to be paid to me and one to dad?

yes we both live near each other and I don’t see that changing. I live next to the school and because dads work takes him away for days on end, I’m the only parent around in emergency’s 24/7. Kids have friends and family hear so moving schools would be a hard sell for dad.

I also had to buy dad out of the family home and gave him 90k. I was surprised he was able to claim universal credit with that much money in his bank but I’m told the new place he has was bought and on a mortgage. I don’t claim any benefits and as you know the child benefit goes to dad. The mortgage is 65% of my salary. I wish I could claim something to help me with the kids but dad claims it all. Hence why I’m worried they will try and claim more when I don’t even have any spare money as it is.

So would you suggest I contact the cms to claim the child benefit for one child and then see if I can make a claim for universal credit?

CMS don't deal with child benefit. You claim online via is gov.uk .

I'd say tread carefully esp could he be persuaded to pay the school meals for other child in Sept?

I'd say you need to do some digging as to what he's likely to loose if you claim CB for one child. It's not just the £90.00onth it's the knock on effect for other benefits.

Yeah our second child will be due to have school meals paid for in September so that will be £110 on the child benefit spent on that. Probably not much point in me claiming one of the child benefits. Just seemed like something to say what we have is even as we have 50/50 shared care. But like someone else’s said, maybe dad is claiming both so he can get more UC. Maybe I’ll leave it for now as if he comes back at me making a claim for cms then I will say then I’ll contact the cms people and say the money is to be paid for one child to each parent. Maybe then he will back off.

The CMS calculator doesn't work for 50:50. The button is for 3+ nights but not 50:50. There is no button for 50:50 as that would be no payment