Maintenance - spousal and child

Hi,

Thank you for all advice, had a few sleepless nights over this.

I am going to suggest her to look at costs, she can not afford Togo to court neither can I.

Hope she see sense.

Thank you.

CM for the three children would be £575 per month assuming you don''t have them for any over night stays.

If you pay this you have got virtually the same amount of money as she has so I would have thought her chances of getting SM would be very low.

By paying her all the extras you are though you wont be helping yourself.

I have an idea, pay her all your wage and ask for some beer money back....!
Seriously, I agree with WYSPECIAL, and soem of the others you are paying far too much.
Did you know you are not really liable to pay for the mortgage, many will say you are, and it would be morally wrong not too, but she is now renting your half of the house, what if boyfriend moves in, be quite nice to pay his half for him wouldnt it?
I was in a similar position to you, many wikis told me I didnt need to pay mortgage, I was in a difficult situation, so I rang the mortgage compnay and told them there was nothing they could do.
I am not suggesting you do this, but you need to straigten your back a bit, quit paying the 1500 xmas money thats for xmas at your place, also it seems your bailing her out quite a bit, re the vet bill, but as you say not long to go.
She has to stand on her own two feet and finacially too.
You have your future to think of too.
One thing you need to know about people like these, doesnt matter how much you help out by paying this that and the other, they will still want more.

I concur with what has been said, except for Hasski, of whom more later !
For a start, if she retains the right to live in the family home it is virtually certain you would not be expected to pay the mortgage on a house from which you are excluded. You might have to pay for it indirectly through the medium of maintenance ; but if she can''t afford to live there with the aid of such resources as she has, some other solution will have to be found.
In answer to your query, your new partner''s income and assets cannot be attacked directly, but she will be expected to make a contribution towards your living expenses and that might result in some increase as compared to what she might expect to get if she were single.
You will have to pay maintenance for your children of course but this would reduce your income to a level where anything more than nominal spousal maintenance was unlikely. but I can understand why her solicitor told her to apply for spousal maintenance. The age of your children suggests to me that your wife may be 45 + and at this age Courts tend to be reluctant to leave a woman without maintenance, even it is set at a low level. The authority for this is Flavell v Flavell.
I would expect some SM to be awarded but there is not a great deal of money sloshing around here and the likelihood is that if SM is awarded it will be at a low level because your needs have to be met too.
I am, however, a little concerned at the amount you are paying, and I''d suggest with your solicitor that you explore ways of reducing it. You have no choice about the child support, of course. You also have to consider the need to ensure the mortgage is kept up and perhaps interest only might be considered. It''s just that if you carry on paying at this level, someone, somewhere, is going to ask you, " The fact is, Mr X, you paid the money for x months and the inference therefore is that you can afford it ". But whatever you do, don''t do it at one fell swoop. Take legal advice on this one.
Hasski
What is your authority for your statement that joint lives orders are very rare ? I do not think they are.
If they are so rare why is the Law Commission being asked to conduct an investigation ?
If they are so rare, why was there recently a conference of lawyers to discuss the implications of judges in the Principal Registry to make term orders and to assume that women in receipt of maintenance had little or no earning capacity ?
I''m not making this up. See this
www.kingsleynapley.co.uk/news-and-events...meal-ticket-for-life
LMM

LMM,

Thank you for some good advice.

She can afford the mortgage she says, that''s why I pay it. I can not afford to, but I can not afford not to, I don''t want to lose the house. I would be happy to so a deal with her on the mortgage and that''s what I offered as the child maintenance will start to go down soon.

On child maintenance, I have read different views, my daughter is 19 in November but she started new a levels last year and does not complete until July 2013, when do I stop paying for her ? I offered to help my daughter with a lower amount after it stops.

Thank you.

Child maintenance currently ends at 16 (or 19 if the child is still in full time education - A Level or equivalent).

This is changing to 20 if still in full time education soon. I think the new system is due to start rolling out next month with new applications being on the new system and then older applications being transferred across over time.

Not sure what position this puts you in as you daughter will turn 19 after the new system comes into effect, but probably before your case gets transferred over to the new system. You would be best to speak to the CSA as you are very much on the threshold.

Jasjadjos wrote:

[/url], I have read different views, my daughter is 19 in November but she started new a levels last year and does not complete until July 2013, when do I stop paying for her ? /quote]

If you pay via CSA the case will close on her 19th birthday.