Changing Child Support Payments

Hi,

I was divorced in 2001 and have been paying £400 in child support for a single child since then. The amount was verified in a Consent Order, which I have adhered to over the years.

Earlier this year, I emigrated to Australia with my second wife and have continued to pay the £400 in child support. However, my second wife and I are expecting our first child together, plus I am the only wage earner in our household and will be for the foreseeable future.

With only one income, things to buy for the new baby, supporting the new baby when it's born, plus the cost of flying my son from my first marriage to Australia at least once a year for a holiday, I feel that £400 is too much for my current status.

Additionally, my wife putting pressure on me to reduce the payments and I can see her point.

My only real (and big fear) is that my ex-wife will fly off the handle when I broach the subject. Things have been amicable for the past few years, but I just know that wanting to vary my payments is not going to go down well.

That said, my ex-wife has remarried and she and her husband run a hotel together, so I would think they're earning a lot more between them than I am in Australia. They have another child as well and from what I have seen, they live a comfortable life in a nice house.

I would prefer to come to an agreement between my ex-wife and I, without having to go back to a UK court for a variation of the consent order (being in Australia would make this problematic), but if she kicks off, then I might have to investigate this route.

I have put my current Aussie earnings into the UK CSA calculator and the monthly amount comes out at £200, a fact which I would use to support the change with my ex-wife.

Am I being reasonable? Does my approach to resolving this issue sound sensible? Does anybody have any top negociating tips for this sort of scenario?

I think £400 per month? I am speculating, is a large amount for one child. If you look at the CSA guidelines, it is 15% of the net salary for the first child and an increase of 5% for each subsequent child (verification needed here if I am wrong, it was what I had to pay when I was hounded by the CSA three years ago, figures may have changed)

If things are amicable then don't let fear stand in your way. Talk to her, send her an email or however you normally communicate, if she is fair and reasonable then I see no reason why she should kick off. She has another child, so I am sure she is aware of the costs involved in that.

How old is your child?

I would say £200 a month is a more reasonable figure. Negotiate with her that perhaps you keep him longer over a holiday period???