Arrangements for kids following divorce

[saultanpepper]

Hi. I'm after some opinions please...

STBXW lives with our two kids (dd, 12, and ds, 9) at what was the marital home. In terms of arrangements, I'm proposing that I pay the mortgage and utility bills, house insurance, Sky, and the phone/broadband until ds reaches 18 or leaves secondary school, whichever is later, plus a monthly wedge of money for food/clothes/shoes etc. If she moves someone else in, I pay half all these bills, and if she moves to another address, I will then just pay child maintenance at whatever the going rate is at that time.

Does this sound fair and reasonable? I've never done this before (hopefully never will again) so I'd like to kinda get a benchmark...

thanks in advance
Saul

You should take legal advice and will also find wikivorce.com helpful.

It seems to me that you have pushed your own housing and finance needs way down the list...you may start a new relationship yourself, or have further children, and then struggle because you are still paying your ex a considerable sum of money.

Is your ex working? If this went to court, a judge would expect her to be with kids that age, I think.

The going rate for child support is 20% of net income, with a reduction for nights spent with you instead of with their mum - see CSA website.

I am divorced and we sold our marital home, with a 60/40 split on equity in my favour as he earns more ( I work PT and am lower paid). We both bought our own properties with the equity so each have a mortgage, and the only income I have from ex-H is maintenance for our DC (calculated at the CSA rate). He pays it monthly into my bank account. It suited us as we wanted a clean break.