Does anyone know if they take child maintenence as part of your income when applying for a mortgage?

[allgonebellyup]

I receive a fair amount of child maintenance from both my ex husbands, and am thinking of getting a house with my new partner.
i dont earn a lot, but was wondering if they take maintenence money into account as a form of income?

The only problem is that both my exes pay me voluntarily and not by court order; they both pay by monthly standing order but iirc i think someone told me it has to be by a court order in order to be seen as reliable income?

unlikely to include it if only voluntary I'm afraid.

But it's always worth asking. Maybe speak to an independent mortgage broker who will knwo the lending policy of many mortgage providers

would need to be paid under a Court order as otherwise it is not guaranteed income. In my opinion it would be unlikely that a mortgage company would take it into account as they are getting very strict at the moment due to the current financial market.

oh bugger :-(

We've just applied for a mortgage and HSBC took into account my husband's non-guaranteed bonus when working out how much they would lend us (basing it on the average of his last 3 discretionary bonuses).

Is this maintenance that will stop when children reach a certain age though?

Do you know if i will have to go to court then for both dads to have their money sorted out on paper?? What a hassle!