Child Maintenance

[NicolaC17]

So my ex and I have recently split up and decided to have the kids 50/50. He says he won’t have to pay any maintenance but the government calculator shows his maintenance to be around £400 a month despite having them 50/50. Is this correct can anyone confirm?! He does earn a significant amount more than I do.

Put your claim in and find out

The calculations are for overnight stays, it says on the gov website

“You will not have anything to pay through the Child Maintenance Service if you are:

• sharing care equally with the other parent”

I’ve just copied & pasted that.

How are you calculating it on the website?
50/50 means no maintenance

59:50 means equal so no maintenance would be payable.......why should it be?

No you won’t get maintenance for 50/50

I'm not sure about this but I think I read something about when it's 50/50 you can both claim against the other and that cancels it out if the numbers are close but in cases where there is a significant difference in income then one party does get maintenance. I don't know if that true though- put the claim in and see.

If it's 50/50 then make sure he's paying half the childcare etc and shoes and coats don't always fall to you. Depending on age of the child half the childcare may well be more than £400 anyway. If he refuses to pay childcare and you have set days then book your child in just the days you need and let him sort his days out himself.

I have 50/50 overnights with my ex but I have 90% of the days and am responsible for childcare and I do sick days etc etc. So he pays maintenance because he knows if I refused to cover everything and made him pay his half he would pay more in the end in childcare alone

In some cases with 50/50 maintenance is still paid so the best thing to do if you think you’d be entitled is to put all the details in to a claim and see what CMS say

And presumably he could also put the numbers (with your earnings) into the calculator and get a number.

Basically, 'true' 50/50 is zero maintenance. If it's 50/50 for nights but lots of differences in roles, then CMS may apply.

I’ve put in half the nights with him and half the nights with me. Doesn’t ask days and it’s showing as £409 a month still.

The government calculator is not for 50/50 situations and it makes this very clear on the landing page.

You will not have anything to pay through the Child Maintenance Service if you are:

sharing care equally with the other parent
a full-time student with no income
in prison

The calculator does not work when genuine 50:50. There would be no maintenance to pay if he has them equal nights and presumed equal care. Why should he have to pay cms on top in that case?

dues that change your view now???

By all means apply anyway you just can't use the calculator

The first question says this:

If you are receiving child maintenance, your child should live with you most of the time. You will not get child maintenance if the day-to-day care of your child is equal between parents.

Thanks everyone, I’ve actually gone though and worked out costs of childcare, after school club, new uniforms, classes and it’s more like £500 a month so will give him a breakdown of all the costs.

He wouldn’t owe you thst

he could pay classes direct eg you pay for swimming he pays gym ( or whatever) and he’d buy uniform himself etc

of course if he’s ok
with your calcs snd agrees to pay this every month that’s great but he doesn’t have to

he’d simply be expected to pay for things on his time

How much do you earn, and how much does he earn?

He should pay wrap around care and classes on his days. You pay them on yours. You share the cost of uniform/clothes, shoes/phones/ tech kit etc.

He earns around 85,000. I only earn 15,000 as I work part time but looking for a new job as I’ll need the extra money now @TheRavenSaid

Yes sounds like you need to be full time

That will be why he has to pay then probably - and quite frankly he should pay, If he doesnt pay, then you'll be topped up by benefits to pay for his dc

(I'm not benefit bashing, I am pro benefits - but why should the state pay for his DC when he can easily provide)

There’s a case for opening a claim with CMS anyway (even if they do confirm it’s zero on 50:50) because circumstances change.

He may have every intention, right now, of having DC half the time, but is that a pattern he’s been in during your relationship to date (ie was he doing his share of pickups etc when you were together)? Is it likely that his decent paying job will give him enough flexibility to do all those school runs and overnights?

Get a claim in now - at least, if the situation changes, you won’t have to start from scratch.

You need to work full time for a start

Both of your incomes have no bearing on maintenance if it's truly 50:50

Perhaps you could've asked for spousal maintenance as part of your divorce but if you're sharing the children equally then neither should pay for child maintenance

Thanks everyone,
I am looking for more hours, just trying to find something that is worthwhile as after school club is £15.00 a day x 2 so £30.00 and need to be able to pick up at 6pm latest.

Why should he pay if he has children 50:50 and pays for shared costs of clothing etc? In which case op shouldn’t be due anything and needs to earn her own income

He shouldn’t have to pay if he’s actually going to parent 50:50, and CMS would confirm that when OP opens a claim.

I’m suggesting OP starts a claim in their system so is not caught out should he not follow through on his plans for shared care.

The realities of truly 50:50 parenting, when it means a high earner having to do school runs etc or stay at home when a child is sick, soon make themselves felt. And his job may not be flexible enough to mean he can actually do it - whatever his current intentions are.