separating and childcare

[whatsmyname2017]

Not sure if this should go in relationships but..... I have separated from dh and he is moving out soon. Our house is up for sale (offer accepted). I know he will have to pay me maintenance when he leaves but I wasn't sure how paying for childcare works.
I will be applying for tax credits and will get some money towards childcare costs but it only covers a portion of it.
He currently pays a small amount using his work childcare vouchers.
My question is, should he still be contributing towards childcare as he is now when he leaves, or does his maintenance cover this?
I know he will bring this up and may expect to reduce his maintenance payments accordingly so wanted to know what the normal arrangements are (if any)?

I should have stated, i will have the children most of the time. We've not agreed arrangements yet but the very most he could have them is 2 nights per week.

I think the maintenance would usually be to cover that but he should pay for the childcare on his days. Hopefully it will all be arranged amicably for you.

He will probably only have them weekends because his working hours during the week would not suit. That's fine, I did think that.

I think its probably best if he stops the childcare vouchers and just gives me the maintenance payments.

When you fill in your tax credits claim form, you are asked what your childcare costs are, the emphasis being on your childcare costs. So, basically, whatever you pay. If your ex pays 50% of the costs (and gives you the money for the sole purpose of paying the fees or pays nursery/childminder directly) then you cannot include that cost in your tax credit claim. Otherwise you will be receiving money via tax credits to reimburse you for a cost that you have not actually had to pay yourself. Don't forget you need to work out your average weekly cost. Mine can vary dramatically depending whether it is a school holiday week or not. So I have to calculate approx 12 weeks at 'holiday' rate, 40 weeks at 'normal' rate, and divide by 52 to get the average.

My ex continues to claim and use childcare vouchers that i then used to pay the childminder. I had to declare both his and my vouchers to the child tax credit people and they took that off what I could receive for childcare. It was the more tax efficient way to do it. I think it's massively unfair that an nrp who has none of the day to day hassles of juggling childcare and work can claim that their maintenance ought to include the crazily high costs of childcare that the to rp HAS to pay. I think it should be dealt with a separate issue. Our childcare bill was basically a second mortgage at one point. No way could I have covered that out of cms maintenance.