what is child maintenance supposed to be for?

Hi Can someone tell me what is CM supposed to be for ? As in does it cover extra activities , school trips etc ?
My stbx is offering 25% less 3/7 as they stay at his 3 nights . But I am still paying for everything apart from the one/two meals and 3 breakfasts he gives them .
Any thoughts please

Unfortunately CM is a blunt instrument - it is calculated on what the NRP can afford to pay, not on how much it costs to bring up a child.

You he can of course agree on a different formula, perhaps with him contributing to after school activities etc, but if you can't agree then it goes to the CSA which is what he is offering.

It is the reduction by 3/7 which I think is unfair as I said I still have all the costs not 4/7 of them!

child maintenance is supposed to be in the ration of income not your school activities so reduce your school activities cost.

I disagree. Yes the CSA calculation is as it is, blunt, potentially unfair, but at least it offers guidance or rules upon which to base contributions.

Rather than reduce the After School Activities, can you not ask your ex if he will contribute to some (say 3/7) of those as he is not paying 100% of CSA rates?

Perhaps too simplistic an approach but the children remain both of yours. If he refuses, then I'm afraid you do have to consider if it is an expense that you can justify on your own.

Good luck.

My ex pays CSA as its taken direct from his wages as he refused to pay. He will not give the kids another penny (having said that he now dosent see them) but when he was he would be asked for a bit of spending money for a school trip and he would say no your mom has all my money (i wish) Before we split he brought one child a pair of school shoes and id kept the receipt as you do, he even sent it to the CSA asking for a discount from buying the shoes! I just wished he had seen that he was infact spiting the kids not me

On a tangent it always seems to me unfair that child related benefits are not split between parents who share the care. Shouldn't Baboo's ex be getting 2/7th of the child benefit?