Child Maintenance

[Manc09]

First post not sure if this is in the right forum or not but here goes ....

Q. Should a 7 year old child know that her father (me) pays her mother maintenance or should such things be better not talked about until she is older / realises it herself?

The reason I ask is because my Daughter recently said her mother isn't rich as she has to pay for everything and I wasn't sure what to say. (My ex-wife is in a very good finacial position - much better than mine).

From personal experience I would DEF NOT discuss finances with a 7 year old. Especially if you feel a bit narked about how much you pay ( I may be wrong but it sounds like it irks you that ex isn't doing too badly on the finance side) Tell your daughter not to worry.(I'm sure she doesn't go without) A childs opinion of 'rich' can vary wildly. Also your daughter may have asked her mum to buy her something...her mum has said no so she's pulling a fast one on you !!!

I agree with above, she could be pulling a fast one, you know how kids are

My DSD knows daddy (well I pay) her mummy because she's said many a time 'my mummy says you've never paid her anything and you still don't ' she's 5 and all she got told was it was odd how her mummy said that as a set amount goes out if our account each week to her mummy, and maybe mummy got confused. It worked, nothing was really discussed but she does know her dad pays mum.

I wouldn't, as the other posters have said your little one might be trying it on. I know my son has with his Dad when I have said no to something.

Hi

It depends on why the issue has come up - my Sk's came here once complaining that they had to stop after school clubs and it was because Daddy doesn't give Mummy any money as he spends it all on the children who live here! We simply told them that Mummy must be mistaken as Daddy gives Mummy some money every month for them, it shows on Daddy's bank statements and they are just as important to us as the other children. We did add that even with the Daddy paying money, raising kids is expensive and maybe she needs to spend that money on other things such as clothes and shoes and that they can't always do every club or class that they would like to.

I don't think it's wrong to let them know that you are contibuting towards their care but I really don't think they need to know the details.

Thanks for the replies .....
My Daughter wasn't asking for anything or trying to pull a fast one. An advantage of having a rich ex-wife is that the kids don't want for anything financially - just hope they don't get spoilt. I actually asked my ex-wife via email what she thought. My Ex replied by saying she had discussed the matter with our Daughter who now knows that both her parents pay for her upkeep (although the finer details of how much weren't discussed). I'm happier now that my children realize I support them financially too (as opposed to just emotionally).