If I won the lottery....

If I won the lottery, what would I be expected me to pay for child maintenance? And why?

As I understand it, there's a cap on CM (or will be under the new system) of £3000 per week. So you'd pay 16% or whatever for 2 children. And I'm not sure but I think that a lottery win would be more in the nature of assets rather than income anyway.

However as a loving father, wanting the best life possible for their children I should think you might want to pay more than the minimum required, 'cos of all that investment income.

You'd probably buy youself a superb pad and go on fantastic holidays and your kids would have a wonderful time when they were with you! You might only work part time so you'd be more available to see them and spend time with them. All those new experiences, great social life and no money worries for anyone.

Although, it would be good if their mum also had a superb pad with all the bells and whistles so that your kids didn't lose out either way!

If only...........

Then there's the 'Top Up' Maintenance to content with?

Currently when income is more than the £2k CSA capped amount the courts can award top up payments.


However, if the non resident parent has assets of more than £65k? the parent with the majority of care can apply to the CSA for a variation and the amount payable is recalculated.

It may seem right to give to your ex an amount of money to help with the children through a top up or variation adjustment. That may be justified if the NRP was withholding funds whilst they were married. However, my point would be for those who’ve had a significant increase in salary since separation or received a financial windfall. As a NRP, I would like to invest my money with the children and not to line the pockets of the PWC so that they can do as they please; for example expensive car or cosmetic surgery. These ‘lifestyle variations’ were not apparent prior to separation, so why should a windfall change that?

I'd be quite happy to buy a 'pad' for the ex as long as the property was under my name. I'd be quite happy to pay for the child's education. I'd be quite happy to provide for the children directly, which I do through maintenance payments. Any reasonable and understanding PWC would want the wellbeing of the children to be paramount. So long as the children are happy, why should wealth affect their happiness? Children should be hidden from the financial world by parents who have separated. Or is it the jealous PWC’s that causes the problem by pursuing relentlessly what they think they ought to have even though they’ve not earned it.

I don't believe that the PWC should be able to live off (directly) what the NRP earns. It is up to the PWC to spend their own money and sustain their lifestyle prior to separation and use the maintenance for the necessities for the children.

If there is a large disparity of income (after separation), then that can't be helped. At point of separation, there ought to be a means to determine your particular lifestyle. Whoever's lifestyle changes thereafter should not adversely affect the other parent’s lifestyle prior to divorce that they’ve been so accustomed to.

If I won the lottery......I'd tick the no publicity box.
I'd enjoy doing the harridan's head in every other weekend wondering why I had such a cracking suntan

I think if you are providing adequately in your head morally,then just keep your mouth shut.i.e if you earn through your own efforts a £100k a year after divorce there is no possible justification for having to give the ex misus £20k in the guise of child maintenance.Especially when there's no accountability in the system whatsoever to the earner how they spend that money whatsoever.
Your kids are there forever just give it to them later in life, if you've got a son keep it for when he really needs help financially after his divorce

I think this is where the 'compensation' and 'fairness' aspects of the Matrimonial Causes act need to be applied.

Going on my own situation. If I'd never married, never had chidlren, never followed my stbx round the world pursuing his career and trying to keep the family together as a unit then I'd be laughing - I'd have a high salary of my own, my own high flying career and a pension pot the size of a small planet.

But I did get married. I did sacrifice my career, we tried our damndest to keep the family whole and functioning. We agreed at the time that it would be best if I stayed at home looking after the children and I lost out considerably.

When we were happily married it was with the expectation that we were together til death do us part and that we would share the fruits of stbx labour because he wasn't the one who wanted to stay at home and raise the family. He wanted to pursue his career.

Maybe that's an old fashioned, traditional view and perhaps my generation are the last who would expect to stay at home and not be a 'supermum', trying to juggle everything.

OK, so lets fast forward and suggest that because there are limited marital assets, neither of us can afford the lifestyle we were accustomed to. The kids suffer through lack of opportunity because we can't afford decent holidays or after school clubs or sports equipment, or a house in the countryside with dog, horse, rabbit etc which we had before the divorce. I cannot resume my high flying career because I still have to run my life around the kids school schedule and be more available to them because stbx isn't there to provide practical support (or even in the same country). I am now too old (had kids late) and am too out of date - some would regard as unemployable because of that large career break.

If stbx was then able to pursue his career, change his job, create a successful company, win the lottery etc etc I think it would be fair that some of that benefit be shared with the former family. At least to allow them to live the lifestyle that they enjoyed during the marriage, that they would have expected to live had the marriage continued.

However, in reality, there usually aren't enough assets to run two homes. Stay at home wife or husband gets only partial recompense for lost pensions/income/career progression and NRP lives in a one bed flat with a bunch of bin bags for company. It's rubbish all round.