Uk/US SM payments - Broke and can''t pay

Hi,

Me and my Ex have 4 years of going to court in both the US and the UK. The financial order was set in the UK. I am to pay GBP 120 per month. Until 2018 or cohabitation.

Now my Ex tried to register the order in the US in 2014 however it was faulty wrong address and wrong amount. ($25k arrears). I had paid both child support and the maintenance - unfortunately because of the wrong address I ended up being garnished close to $10k by the US Child Support Agency and they broke my credit rating. I got the registration dismissed finally and a couple of months later I did get the $10k back. However during the garnishment I could not afford to pay anything since I was left with $800 a month, ending up broke since I couldnt borrow money with a broken credit rating. I want to pay everything including the arrears from the garnishment - but I simply do not have the money to pay her SM. I have emailed her to ask if we can come to some kind of agreement but she refuses.

Something to note:
1 - She came off income support and earns around GBP 2k a month as a marketing manager in London. I believe she came off income support early 2014.
2 - She sold the property that she got from the divorce making around GBP 160k in profit. Brought another property with her mother - this was again back in 2014 and have equity of GBP 150k in that property.
3 - Has been in a committed and stable relationship before the financial order was issued (I didnt know about it until later) since 2013.
4 - She brought a car last month

I am all happy for her - and what ever but I simply cannot afford to pay the SM because:
1 - the garnishment has essentially destroyed my finances
2- the contact cost for my kids are crazy high. I have to fly in and pick them up and fly back to NYC for holidays and I have an arrangement with my work that I can work out of our London office and in that way do full father role for my kids 3-4 times a year for up to 3 weeks at the time (I pay for this myself). 2014 and 2015 I spend something like $15- $20k a year on contact cost and I managed to have the kids for 54 days in 2014 and 69 days in 2015.

I have filed a FORM A with Wandsworth Court to have the SM varied down because of my financial black-hole that I am now in (garnishment mainly and legal fees). I have no solicitor in the UK since I have maxed out credit cards (I have been to court with my ex for Parental Child abduction against her 2012 - reached agreement, she tried to relocate the kids to Spain in 2015 with her boyfriend, she lost and cant appeal) and I have no savings and don''t own any property.

Would it be reasonable to ask the court to remove the SM payments and discharge any arrears from the date of when my ex came of Income support?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. If additional information is needed let me know.

Welcome to Wikivorce.

I''ll be very brief as I''m just about to leave the office.

Spousal Maintenance is dependent on the recipient''s need and also on the payer''s ability to pay. As your ex''s need is diminished due to her now a reasonable salary and your capacity to pay is greatly diminished due to your dire financial situation, it seems appropriate to apply for a downward variation. You will need to set out your reasoning for both her lack of need for ongoing financial support from you, and that you are no longer in a position to continue meeting those payments set out in the Consent Order.

Thank you for the quick reply.. Really appreciate it. I have no problem with providing full financial disclosure to the court. That should provide enough information regarding my financials. With regards to her needs.. Well I would definitely need her form E which I believe the courts requests to have filled in. Based on that it should possible to show her need for SM t be greatly reduced. Again thank you for the quick reply.