50/50 shared care

Thank you William

Hi, I have read this thread with interest. My situation is that I was advised by CM Options to make an application as this would overturn an existing Consent Order that was in place. My circumstances had changed and I was caring for my daughter equally with my ex wife whereas at time of separation I was unable to facilitate this. The CMS found that day to day care was equal so they could not open an application. This leave me wondering, how do I challenge the consent order? In the past my ex made an application to the CSA but she closed the case on hearing that I would pay less through CSA than I was through the consent order. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

while you wait for a response, can I ask what scheduled you had in place that worked for you and divided the care of you child equally?

Also what did CMS want to see by way of evidence for this?

As far as care arrangements we had a 4/4 pattern of care, 4 days with mum then 4 days with dad. I was lucky that I managed to find a job which allowed me to offer this care arrangement

With regards to CMS they didn''t request any evidence in my case, my statement that parental responsibility was equal as was day to day care was agreed by the mother (in the end!)

The CMS did say that if it were contested then they would ask for evidence to support the statement. They said there would be questions such as who picked up the child from school if they were sick, who takes the child to the doctors/dentist.

It is all very misleading though if you just read the guidance on CMS payments, and I have said this in my conversations with them. The guidance (www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/upl...hild-maintenance.pdf) has the following
Q: What happens if the day-to-day care of a child is equal between a
paying parent and a receiving parent?
A: In this situation, the paying parent does not have to pay any child
maintenance for that child

This is not strictly true, in my situation they have said that neither parent can apply for an assessment but this doesn''t overturn the existing consent order therefore, I am still having to pay maintenance

As I said above normally when care isn''t shared 50:50 and child maintenance was agreed in a consent either parent can apply to the CMS 12 months after the order was. The CMS notifies the court and the order ceases to have any effect with regard to child maintenance two months later.

When care is shared exactly equally 50:50 neither parent is the "non resident parent" so the CMS can''t process the claim and don''t notify the courts. That means the consent order remains in effect and you would need to agree another consent order or apply to court to vary the order.

Thanks for that Fiona. Do you know, to vary an order do you need to attend court or can this be via an application?

The point CMS made to me is that it is one thing to have ''shared'' care arrangements but when requesting consideration of equal care it is important to understand that shared parental responsibility (day-to-day care) is something different

IT depends on whether agreement can be reached with the other party. IF not the court would need to hear both sides of the story.