Hi Jim75
I am William the
child maintenance Options consultant. I understand that you currently pay £450 a month for your two children as they stay three nights a week with you. You would like to know if for the sake of two night will this change to shared care with the reforms.
In your post you have not indicated what type of arrangement you have in place. If you currently pay child maintenance through a family-based arrangement, this is when you and your ex-wife agree who will provide what for your children. There are no strict rules or formulas that you have to stick to when calculating your payments. Family-based arrangements are not legally binding, however, they can be quick, easy and flexible to change if your circumstances do.
You can use our online calculate found on this link
www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/ to see how much child maintenance you may have to pay. You can use this figure as a starting point to renegotiate your arrangement.
The CSA work out child maintenance payments using a set formula which is based on your income, other factors are taken into account including the number of children that need child maintenance, and if there is any other child living with you.
The CSA can reduce the amount of child maintenance that is paid, if the child stays overnight with the paying parent on average at least one night a week. The reduction will take in to account the number of times the child stays overnight.
If the child spends an equal amount of time staying overnight with each of their parents, the parent who receives Child Benefit for the child can still apply for child maintenance. The other parent would then be classed as the paying parent. The CSA then works out how much child maintenance should be paid using their normal processes. The amount that both parents contribute towards the everyday living costs of the child will be taken in to account.
Both of you may wish to discuss any issues surrounding your arrangement to keep it on track. This can be done without involving anyone else, or with the help of friends, family, Child Maintenance Options'' guides or a professional mediator. You may wish to use the
mediation Locator tool which can help you find a mediator in your area. Please visit
find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk/.
We also have tools and guides on our website at
www.cmoptions.org that you may find useful. We have a family-based arrangement form which is not legally enforceable document but may put your arrangement on a more formal basis. You can complete this together with your children''s father and sign your names to show your commitment to your arrangement. You may also find our child maintenance decision guide: Talking about money helpful. It can help you to work with your ex-wife to agree a suitable arrangement between yourselves. You can print out a copy of these leaflets from the above website.
If you currently have a case with the Child Support Agency (CSA), we do not have access to any details that the CSA holds about you or your case, so you will need to contact them directly to discuss your concerns. Their contact details can be found on any letter they have sent you, or this website
www2.dwp.gov.uk/csa/v2/en/setup/apply-by-telephone.asp provides their contact details.
If you have a
Consent Order in place, you may wish to consult the solicitor who started the original proceedings to see if your payments can be changed. You may also wish to seek legal advice to see where you stand on this. You may find this link helpful
www.gov.uk/find-a-legal-adviser.
There is also a Sorting out separation web-app on this site at
www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Sorting-Out-Separation.html that you may find useful as it offers help and support to separating families.
Alternatively, if you prefer a confidential chat with one of our agents, you can call us on our freephone number 0800 988 0988. We are open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturday 9am to 4pm.
I hope this helps.
William
