Step Children

I have just found this forum and im in need of some advice please.

I am just starting to divorce my wife as we have now been seperated for 2 years. we were only married for 11 months. she has 2 children from a previous relationship. both are in secondary school. As far as im aware she still doesnt receive any help from there biological father. he has the children for 1 nights a month.

i have a couple of questions. as they lived with us, do i need to put them on the Petition as "children of the family"

Will she be able to claim maintenance from me for them? I haven''t seen them since we split, she also stopped them calling me.

As far as im concerned things will carry on as they have done for the last 2 years and we have nothing to do with each other.

i just dont want to miss anything and get caught out.

Many thanks, McDirty

I would hope you could carry on just as normal.

Did you cohabitate before?
Is there a house between you?

If I were you I would not put them on the Petition. They are not yours, you never adopted them and with that short of a marriage I cant see them ever relating to you as anything other than mum''s fella.

Someone should be able to wrap some legalities around this, as I am just spouting my opinion based on some other stuff I have read.

Thanks for your reply.

yes we did co-habbit for about 2 years before marriage.

There is no property, we rented a flat, which i have stayed in and she went and rented a house.

I assumed i had to put them on the Petition as they were resident with us during the marriage.

i also should have mentioned that they asked to take my surname when we married, so my ex arranged that and changed their names.

If the children lived with you they are children of the family and must be entered as such on the Petition and taken into account in the financial settlement.

The first port of call for child support is the natural father. IS there any reason why he can''t be traced and a claim made through the Child Support Agency?

Thanks Fiona.

I thought they would have to be mentioned.
when you say they have to be taken into account in the financial settlement, what does this mean for me? can we just agree that things stay as they are and i dont have to pay towards them? we dont own a property, have no joint assets and were divided any savings upon separation.

There is no issue contacting the real father. he picks them up every week. just she has never bothered to go via the csa.

As she is in contact with baby daddy, if finances were an issue- she would be expected to go there, and not to you- I am thinking that is what Fiona is saying..

But this leads me onto another question.

If I were a woman with 2 children (10, 12) And I landed myself a decent-earning husband and we divorced 2 years after we wed, as it just wasnt working,..because he has "accepted the children" - I could have a massive stake on his house, pension etc>??..even though it was a short marriage?

When there is no court order settling finances on divorce it is open to either party to make future financial claims against each other. You can of course agree between yourselves what you like, but a judge signing off an order would need to ensure it is "fair" ie complies with the law.

There are a number of factors that would be taken into account and the priority is the welfare of dependent children of the family. If there are no assets in sole or joint names, your income isn''t above average or your wife doesn''t need a sum of money to help her readjust to independent living then it may just be a case of a Clean Break settlement to dismiss future claims against each other.