What does child maintenance cover?

I have my child 2 nights a week, so pay a reduced child maintenance amount.

New school uniforms are needed, so I thought my ex wife should buy that out of those payments.

But my ex wife says that as I have her 2 nights a week and get a reduction, that means that I should pay separately for a proportion of clothes etc.

Who is right ?

You can agree what you like but you are not obliged to pay for anything other than the assessed amount of child maintenance.

Your ex will receive child benefit and probably child tax credits as well the child maintenance you pay.

If you pay child maintenance, it covers everything and you are not obliged to pay any more. If you have a reduction because you have the children overnight, it is to help towards the costs at your end and does not mean you need to pay extra to your ex. She is more than likely testing you out to see if you will offer something extra. My son has a shared residence order but not 50/50. To be honest by the time he buys everything the boys need when they are with him, it is probably costing almost as much as it does his ex.

The argument was that as the reduction covers costs my end, then those costs should include buying clothes, shoes etc. for the proportion of the time she is with me.

As I haven''t bought her any clothes or shoes, I should contribute to those costs as those items are used in both houses ?

If you use the CSA they have strict rules regarding child maintenance payments. They give the percentage you have to pay towards the maintenance of your children, less any reduction for overnight stays. That is your requirement, irrespective of what your ex. would like. If you want to pay extra, always assuming your are able to pay extra, that is your choice. It is not mandatory.

The reduction is to cover food.heating, lighting etc while they are with you.

If you want to pay more that is entirely up to you but you are under no obligation to do so. Experience has also taught me that no matter how much you pay it wont be enough.

You could try telling her you will pay 2/7ths of all clothing but she will have to give you 2/7ths of the child benefit and tax credits paid for their up keep. May be she will see it differently then.

If she wants an amount other than the CMS assessed amount I would suggest you get them out of your lives and negotiate a private arrangement you are both happy with.

Thanks all.

I don''t mind paying a bit extra for certain things, but as I''m already paying more than I need to in other areas, it seems a bit cheeky to ask me for extra when things come up!