Changes in circumstances for both parties and consent order

I got divorced 7 years ago now, it was a pretty amicable divorce and a Consent Order was put in place for child maintenance, this was based on equal share of custody with the kids spending equal time with each parent. The children were aged 12 and 10 at the time of divorce and are now aged 17 and 19.
Unsurprisingly the circumstances have changed over the 7 years as the kids have grown up and there are also some major changes to my ex wife and my circumstances over the next few months which I think mean that the consent order may not be appropriate in its current form.
The consent order stated that I pay child maintenance and also childcare vouchers through work. The Child care voucher scheme at work was stopped some time ago and also the kids no longer go to a child minder, we therefore renegotiated that I’d change the maintenance to pay an increase of what the child care vouchers would have cost me when they stopped. This was agreed informally with my ex without a change to the consent order.
The consent order is stated that I pay maintenance until the children finish full time under graduate education.
There was a token Spousal maintenance of £1 a year for the first five years, there to give me some financial responsibility for her as a protection in case she got into financial difficulties, this has now expired.
My eldest is now living away from home most of the time as he is at Uni, I did want to pay him the child maintenance direct to him in order to help with his living costs but my ex is insisting that it should still go to her which grates somewhat.
Later this year, my ex is moving house out of the area and my daughter will be staying locally , partly with me and partly at a friend’s house and only visiting my ex occasionally, my ex still is insistent that the child maintenance should go to her as that’s what is in the consent order. I would rather pay it directly to my daughter to help her pay a contribution to her friends parents where she expects to spend c50% of her time.
Another big change is that I started receiving a deferred company pension this year although continuing to work. I can’t afford to retire yet as I have a large Mortgage after buying my ex out of the family home as part of the Divorce settlement and I’ve take a decision to pay an vastly increased amount into a current company pension scheme to boost my pension pot ready for when I do retire so I can pay off the mortgage with the 25% tax free sum. I’m taking home the same amount as I always have due to the increased pension contributions and have continued to pay the same child maintenance. However my ex is saying that I should start paying her extra maintenance due to receiving my pension. Looking at the way the Government child maintenance calculator works it is based on earnings before tax and NI but after pension deductions so on this basis I’m taking the position that there should be no increase.
Also next year I’ll be retiring and have a vastly reduced income, although I have decided I want to continue to pay the same maintenance for my kids while they are studying.
So my queries are
1. If the kids are no longer living with my ex, should she receive any maintenance bearing in mind the spousal maintenance clause was for the first 5 years which stopped 2 years ago? I want to pay maintenance to support the kids but I think it’s wrong that it goes to her.
2. Am I correct in my assumption that my earnings to be taken into account should be my pension payments and salary after pension contributions (which are unchanged)?
3. Even if she does remain eligible continue to receive maintenance (depending on the answer to point 1) , next year when I retire as this is a major life change will I be able to reduce the amount I pay her but pay the difference direct to the kids?

Consent orders for child maintenance last 12 months in reality as after that point either party can go to the CMS for an assessment which overrules the consent order though whether the term relating to undergraduate study remains valid in your circumstances is the key bit. CMS normally only covers to further education. As spousal maintenance is past it’s term, and as neither child will be living with her, effectively if you asked for an assessment she would be paying you on the information provided above for the 17 year old at least. Alternatively I guess you could apply to amend the consent order due to the change in circumstances but that obviously would be more expensive. May be worth ringing the helpline or seeking an appointment with the solicitor who dealt with your case originally if they are still there to see what their view is

Thanks. I have a employee advice service at work and called them yesterday and they put me through to one of their lawyers. The advice I hasd is:-
1. If my daughter (my youngest) is no longer living with her Mum after the house move it would not be correct for child maintenance to be paid to her, therefore the consent order is no longer fit for purpose and I could go to court and request a legal variation but best approach would be to try and negotiate informally first with the back stop of the leagl approach mentioned for leverage.

2. If my son (the eldest who is at Uni) is however still spending equal time with both parents when not away studying as per the consent order then maintenance would still be payable under the current consent order. If however he doesn’t spend any time with her though that would be the same as my daughter's situation and the consent order would be deemed no longer fit for purpose and could be varied by the courts.

3. The pension situation on earnings. As I’m taking my pension and paying full tax on it this means it is total legal to pay an increased contribution into another pension, the only issue with recycling (pension shielding) would have been if I had taken the 25% tax free option. The child maintenance is based on my earnings, as per the government guidelines this would be earnings before tax and NI but after any pension deductions. Therefore my earnings are unchanged and there is no increase in child maintenance payable.
4. Not withstanding the above, as the consent order states that the payments are to be made to my ex this is binding and I can't opt to pay it directly to the kids unless I agree this with her through negotiation.

He didn't mention the option of going to the CMS for an assessment so thanks for this. Basically I think it's a case of trying to negotiate armed with the advice as a back stop. I'm happy to pay the money if it is used to support my kids, but not if it's primarily being used to supplement her earnings!