Variation of Income to Calculate Mainteance - what

BTW, not that it should make any difference, but to avoid confusion the OP is male according to his profile and the ex partner is a "she" I believe.

CMS is based on income unfortunately assets etc.. are not counted in CM.
Have you sorted out your finances regarding splitting for the divorce - that''s if your married of course.?
The starting point for sorting out finances is usually 50/50 but there can be more of a % given to one party if the kids need a house or other circumstances. Pensions can be offset against receiving more equity. Everything your stbx owns will go into the pot as does everything you own - that''s if your married think things may be different if your not? Although not certain.
If your stbx is a high earner and you can''t work or have a low income maybe you could claim SM but it depends on a lot of factors.
If your talking about splitting assets for the divorce you''ll need to give a few more details so the wikis can advise. If you''re only wanting to know about CM it is based on earnings - which can be difficult to sort out if your STBX is self employed.

Not married / no divorce. X low earner 6k, but asset rich +600k (400k house no mortgage & ISA''s Shares), I am the higher earner but am asset poor (half the house 250k).

If assets are not taken into account for CMS & thus contribution to our kids is a pittance, & the law on CM does not account the fact this house makes more in inflation pa than I take home after tax! then its in my interest to seriously degrade this house before my youngest is 18. So why bother maintaining it unless its something that needs to work like the CH even then when it goes up for sale I will block it & make her take me to court, she will pay cap gains too. By the time its sold the investment of hanging on to it wont have been worth it.

Somebody on the CMS phone line said they assume an income is derived from capital assets above 65k at the rate of 8%pa (interest & draw down) so if e.g. she has 100k in shares (even ISA''s?) then they assume an income of 8k +her paye 6k & calculate CMS on that.

think of it this way could you live on 6k pa? - so where is the rest of the income coming from? - after paying +400k for a house, I guess there is a lot more stocks cash & shares lurking providing a living income?

Solicitors are full of BS - ''Oh we can write her a letter'' - kerching 200quid pls. What is the point in that? solicitors have achieved nothing, absolutely nowt.

I left the he / she thing out as it seems to bias / cloud some peoples thinking.

As the father that has been loyal to the relationship & family & who''s kids have chosen to stay with, I am humble by their trust & love for me. I will happily cover their needs & costs but I haven''t got the emotional energy to argue in court for a larger share of the house in 6 years time vs that. in 6 y things will be different financially probably very bad for me.

I & the kids loose the family home whist they are leaving Uni/college & setting up in life, I wont be able to help them. There is nothing fare & just in how a person who left the relationship & kids, is a +half millionaire on paper & who will inherit another half M pays nothing & still ends up with almost everything!

The CMS is toothless to people who can manipulate their finances - if you want to pay no CM simply pay off the mortgage & put as much of what''s left in a pension or ISA. You get assessed on the balance(very little) & get to keep all the funds ''diverted'' too.

In time the kids will see her for what she is & how she has abandoned them not only emotionally & dependently but financially too.

I wonder if they can sue her estate later in life?

This is as much a moral as a financial issue. However unfortunately you cannot force her to do what many would see as being the right thing.

I know it is hard and it is clear how angry and betrayed you feel, but you really do need to try to take the emotion out of all this. It is only going to cause you more problems. I would advise her the same.

As the cmoptions advisor has said, you can have a private agreement. There is nothing stopping her from paying more voluntarily but she clearly does not want to.

As far as the house goes, she could agree to extend the period before she wants her 50% from the property. She could sign over her 50% to the children. However, this would again be voluntary and you are not going to persuade her to do any of this while you are both in entrenched positions throwing rocks.

You could try mediation. You could appeal calmly to her better nature. Or you could just accept that she won''t budge.

If you accept the situation that you are in - a consequence I am afraid of not being married and therefore not subject to family law - then you need to consider what practical steps you can take.

You say you are a high earner. Are you in a position to buy her out now? If you could do that, at least it would be you benefiting from increases in the property price.

Alternatively could you consider using your 50% as a down payment on another property where you and the children can make a (cheaper) home and you can build a new life? I know how you feel about your home but sometimes you do have to let things go for the sake of your sanity.

None of this is easy. I really feel for you. You are having to cope with a lot and you have teenagers caught up in it all too. You need to make sure they feel as safe as possible. They need you to be a calm and steady presence. Growing up is tricky enough without all this. They are your priority now.Thank goodness they have you.


Hadenoughnow

The CSA and CMS are blunt instruments and the rules and regulations don''t give the staff much discretion.

Under the CSA scheme it is quite correct that the CSA can assume income of 8% if the paying parent had assets with more than £65k. Assets means cash held in an account, premium bonds, savings certificates, interest or rights in/over property or land and stocks and shares. However the property where the paying parent lives is excluded.

The CMS rules are different, as I outlined above, and the CMS deals with new applications. The CSA only handles existing cases now so unless you already have an open case with the CSA the CMS rules would apply.