What should child maintenance cover?

My soon to be ex will pay me £521 a month in maintainance for three children. I work part time and am not claiming any spousal maintainance. As every penny will be tight, I wondered what this money is supposed to cover. I assumed it would be living expenses when with me - food, roof over head, share of bills - and imagined we would share the costs for extras such as piano lessons, swimming (£50/m), school uniforms and shoes, school trips. My ex says no, this covers everything. Is this generally how it works?

You said in another post that you were sharing care. If that is so then costs of uniforms, trips etc should also be split.

CM is based partly on the number of nights they spend with the non resident parent who pays it.

In my partner''s case it seems he pays for all the extras. He is happy to do so and fortunate to be able to afford it.

Hadenoughnow

Thanks, that''s useful to know

My two pence worth, things like school uniforms and shoes shouldn''t be considered extras, but prioritized along with other living essentials.

You may find that school trips could be covered by the school if you''re entitled to pupil premium funding.

The rest like piano lessons etc should be ''nice to have'' if the NRP doesn''t pay, and you cannot afford it.

I understood it was for everything - in my case I used it for living expenses, shoes, uniforms, school trips, food - everything . My ex contributed nothing else towards the child''s care - if there was a school trip and I couldn''t afford it - they missed out - some fathers will help out with extras but some like my ex decided they pay what they pay and give nothing extra. I guess if they want to give extra it''s good for the child but if not and I couldn''t afford it they missed out. I was the one feeling guilty - I skipped meals so I could afford to pay for their sports activities.
Sorry not much help but I can only say what happened in my case I''m sure others have different experiences.

Hi.

it is to cover everything and there is no obligation to pay any more.

A lot of people do agree to split extras it just depends on what you agree to do.

Agreed- it covers everything and anything else is negotiable.

Personally, i point blank refuse to pay for extras as I feel my ex has more than enough to cover basics as well as extras.

Also- as she makes contact as difficult as possible...if at all- there is no way I am giving her extra.