Changing Court Order

Hi,

I wonder if anyone could advise on the following. I have main residence of my two daughters of 11 and 8 and was recently made redundant and have little chance of getting any work in the near future with a comparable salary to what I was earning so am currently on the full range of benefits.

Part of the court order was for my ex-wife and I to share the driving duties, one leg each on her access weekends which is approx 240 miles round trip. She is living something of a millionaire lifestyle with her current boyfriend and claims to not be working so the CSA are unable to get her to provide any maintenance. I am pretty sure she is working as are the CSA but on a self employed basis with the money going into her boyfriends company and being paid out to him thus not showing anything in her name.

I am now struggling financially anyway but these trips are costing me around £70 each time and I can't afford it. Is there any way of getting the court order amended to alleviate me having to do this at least while I am working or will it require a return trip to the court?

Cheers
Richard

Sorry you have been made redundant. If the order is no longer appropriate you would need to return to court rather than changing it unilaterally unless you can reach agreement with the Mother.

Thanks for your reply Fiona, I'll get in touch with my solicitor to try and get this arranged. Incidentally, one thing I may have in my favour is a spousal maintenance order against my ex-wife - would you know the chances of getting anything out of her in this manner due to her refusal to co-operate with the CSA?

As circumstances have changed and you have lost your income the courts could look at SM again. If she has no income then she wouldn't have the ability to pay but the courts would scrutinise the finances and have discretionary powers which the CSA doesn't have.

As usual it boils down to cost effectiveness and the particular facts so your solicitor is in the best position to advise because he/she knows your case.