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Child Maintenance Calculation

abus
Posted by
Elite Member

16 Aug 13 #404607 by abus

Topic started by abus

Hi Wikis

I have seperated from my ex wife and she has since had a baby and filed for child maintenance. At present I am waiting for DNA test to come through as the baby was born after we seperated and I wasn''t informed about the pregnancy (for four months) or the birth of the child.

I have been using the CSA online child maintenance calculator to work out how much I will potentially have to pay.

The amount that was returned using the calculator would be very close to putting me in the red each month - with next to nothing that I can save to move on with my life.

My question to wikis is do child maintenance calculations take into account the paying parents monthly costs e.g. mortgage, bills, travel etc etc as the online tool on the CSA website doesnt refer to anything on this and simply says maintenance will be calculated on salary and number of days the child stays with paying parent.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks

Gillian48
Platinum Member

16 Aug 13 #404610 by Gillian48

Reply from Gillian48

Hiya - I went through the CSA but it was several years ago and I''m not sure if the system is the same? They don''t take into account bills, mortgage, travel expenses etc... They calculate the % on your weekly net pay - so they take off national insurance, pension payments etc.. Did you work it out on your weekly net pay??
As I say I have heard that the system is or has changed but not sure what the rules are?
Hope you get your answers soon but you are correct they don''t take bills, mortgage etc.. into consideration.

abus
Posted by
Elite Member

16 Aug 13 #404612 by abus

Reply from abus

Hi Chocoholic

Thanks for your reply. Yep I calculated on weekly net pay

If that''s the case I don''t think anything has changed then as the online calculator doesn''t ask for information on my outgoings before calculating an amount and the application form I received through the post also (off the top of my head) didn''t ask me to provide this info either.

I didn''t realise that maintenance is minus pension payments - I''d be interested to see what happens when auto-enrolment kicks in ...

Would be interested to hear from Wiki''s who have gone through the process recently to hear their views and also if anyone has any further info about pensions and child maintenance

maisymoos
Platinum Member

16 Aug 13 #404613 by maisymoos

Reply from maisymoos

Child maintenance is based on net income of the non resident parent. (nrp) For one child it is 15% less deductions for overnight stays with NRP.

The system is however changing and will at some point in the future be based on gross pay but a lower percentage.

The nrp''s outgoings nor the income of the resident parent affect the calculation. There are some exceptions for example if the NRP has large travel costs involved when seeing the children a deduction may be made.

WYSPECIAL
Moderator

16 Aug 13 #404614 by WYSPECIAL

Reply from WYSPECIAL

Hi,

I''m assuming given age and circumstances the baby doesn''t stay overnight with you at present?

In that case deduct tax, NI and pension contributions from your salary then it''s a straight 15%

abus
Posted by
Elite Member

16 Aug 13 #404637 by abus

Reply from abus

Hi

Maisymoos - thanks for confirming this - I''ll keep an eye out for changes to the system and see how it might impact me.

WYSPECIAL - yes you are correct the baby doesnt stay with me at present (she''s around 2 months old) however depending on the outcome of the DNA test I would like to think that in the future (when she''s a little older) I will be able to come to an agreement where she is able to stay over a couple of nights a weeks.

Thanks all

Child Maintenance Options
Moderator

16 Aug 13 #404662 by Child Maintenance Options

Reply from Child Maintenance Options

Hi abus.

Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant.

I can see that you are now aware that child maintenance would be calculated by the Child Support Agency (CSA) at around 15 percent of your net income. Income includes earnings, money from an occupational or personal pension and any tax credits you may receive. They use the amount of income left after deductions such as Income Tax, National Insurance and any money paid into a personal pension scheme.

There are many other financial factors that may be taken into account by the CSA, so if you have any further questions about how they calculate maintenance, or if you would like to set up maintenance using their service you may wish to speak with them directly. This website www.gov.uk/child-support-agency provides their contact details.

In your last post you have said that depending on the outcome of the DNA test, you hope that you and your ex-wife will be able to come to your own agreement over contact. If you feel that you would also be able to discuss child maintenance, you could choose to try and sort it out between yourselves. It can be the quickest and easiest way of arranging child maintenance, and we call it a family-based arrangement.

Negotiating child maintenance can be better than having a solution imposed on you, as long as you feel comfortable entering into discussions with your ex-wife. The important thing is to try and improve your relationship to a stage where you can work together to come to an agreement.

A family-based arrangement is not legally binding but it is flexible, so it allows the two of you to negotiate an agreement that suits you both. It can include money and other kinds of support, for example providing clothes.

To help you make a family-based arrangement, we have got some useful tools and guides that you may find helpful. You can find these on our website at: www.cmoptions.org.

I understand that you have already used the online maintenance calculator, which gives you an indication of how much could be worked out by the CSA. So you could use this figure as a starting point for negotiations to make a family-based arrangement.

If you can agree a child maintenance arrangement, you can record the details on our family-based arrangement form. Although this is not a legally enforceable document, it puts the agreement on a more formal basis. You can complete it together with your ex-wife and sign your names to show your commitment to this arrangement. You can also download this form from our website.

If you are unable to agree a family-based arrangement, the CSA have two schemes available. You can set up a Direct Pay arrangement which is where the CSA will calculate the amount of maintenance to be paid, then you and your ex-wife would agree how the payments will be made. The CSA will not contact either of you again unless there is a change in circumstances or if they are told that you have missed or fallen behind with your payments.

Alternatively, you could choose the CSA''s Collect and Pay scheme. This is where the CSA calculates, collects and enforces payments on a parent''s behalf, as some people need the security and help of a third party managing their child maintenance. Just to make you aware, that if an application is made to the CSA, your responsibility to pay will start from around the time the CSA contact you, or you contact them.

If none of these options are suitable for you, another option that you may wish to consider is setting up a Consent Order. This is an official ruling made by a court. This usually happens when you are going to court for other reasons, such as arranging a divorce or dividing your property or other assets. Arranging a Consent Order can be costly as fees for solicitors, mediators and court costs may apply.

To find out more about how Child Maintenance Options can help you visit cmoptions.org or call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on Saturday.

We also have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful, it offers help and support to separated families. The link is: www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Sorting-Out-Separation.html

Moderators: wikivorce team, rubytuesday, dukey, hadenoughnow, Tets, Forseti, Mitchum, WhiteRose, Lostboy67, WYSPECIAL, Bubblegum11

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