Online CSA Calculator - any good?

Have nominally agreed to pay stbx £500pm which is approx 18% of my net monthly income. 2 kids, of which will be spending 2/7 at my place and half holidays.

Looking at the CSA online calc, it only seems to want you to pay the full 20% of your net income if the children spend a minimal amount of time at the non-resident parents house.

If i plug my income/situation details into the calc, it arrives at £98 per week, which is 98*(52/12)=£424 per calendar month.

I had no idea that the more time the kids spend with the non-resident parent, that CM payments become LOWER than 20% of net income? is this for real? am i being taken for a sucker here?

If children spend no overnights with the non resident parent, the formula is 20%.

If the children spend some nights with the other parent, it obviously costs that parent something to feed them etc, and to a small extent relieves the resident parent of the costs of feeding etc during those times: so, the formula makes some allowance for that by reducing the assessment by 1/7th for every night on average per week per year. It actually does this by working out whether you have the children for more than 52, or 104, etc, nights.

51 nights gets you no reduction, but 52 nights gets you 1/7th off. Rough and ready, admittedly.

I'll clearly be having the kids 2/7 so 500pm is a good 80pm over the odds. looks like its time to put my flak jacket on

Get yourself a new partner with two children and you can reduce how much you pay towards the upkeep of your children by another 20%!! Sorry if I sound annoyed but unless you are on a low income, what is £20 per week? But it can make a big difference to the meals put on the table for your children the other 5 nights. It should not be about how little you can contribute but how MUCH you can contribute as if you were still with their other parent then 100% of your money would go on providing for your children. Sorry if £500 is equivalent to 18%, then your are on good money as 25% of 80% of my STBX income is £91 and i know how much he earns and it is over £30k.

Thank you for your conern but i've already given her the lion's share of my house equity, taken on a huge mortgage to keep the FMH, am paying for nursery costs, voluntarily taken on ALL our existing credit card debt (about 6+ grand at the end of this), furnishing her new house for her, and will be paying for "major" purchases for my children (shoes, school trips etc) so my kids will be fine and i've already done more than enough to ensure their comfort and stability. What i don't like is my STBX pulling numbers out of thin air that she claims are a "good deal" for me and following them up by threats of forcing the sale of the house and taking advantage of my ignorance of the situation and reduced mental capacity (im being treated for depression) to take me for a ride.

neither of us are on low incomes (although hers is considerably less than mine) but with CS payments, her much much lower morgtage (thanks to me), and her tax credits + child benefit we're actually pretty much in the same boat financially when you take our outgoings into account. the only difference is i'm facing a good few years of frugal living while i pay back the financial and emotional debt and rebuild the life that she has destroyed.

I understand that you may well be the recipient of CS payments yourself so naturally seeing a father try to reduce his payments to a "fair" amount may well annoy you and i have taken your comments on board. It was her choice to leave me so she has obviously weighed up the situation and she's turning her back on a VERY comfortable lifestyle for one of single motherhood. she has also been very unfair to me, threatened me, baited me, and actually been downright dishonest with regard to the separation finances - all of which i have not challenged one single bit for the sake of my children's well-being.

mnstr wrote:

Thank you for your conern but i've already given her the lion's share of my house equity, taken on a huge mortgage to keep the FMH, am paying for nursery costs, voluntarily taken on ALL our existing credit card debt (about 6+ grand at the end of this), furnishing her new house for her, and will be paying for "major" purchases for my children (shoes, school trips etc) so my kids will be fine and i've already done more than enough to ensure their comfort and stability. What i don't like is my STBX pulling numbers out of thin air that she claims are a "good deal" for me and following them up by threats of forcing the sale of the house and taking advantage of my ignorance of the situation and reduced mental capacity (im being treated for depression) to take me for a ride.

Just as an aside those purchases you talk about as the nrp are "gifts" and if you contact the csa they would say that is the reason as to why you pay the amount you do. In other words its not for you to pay its for her to pay out of that money you give her.

I'm more than happy to give gifts irrespective of CS payments. What i dont want to do is contribute to the stbx's shiraz and chocolate fund