Child maintenance claim from stbx??

Scenario...

Mum working pretty much full time to make ends meet, now living with grandparent and one child and in receipt of family/child allowance for that child.

Dad stayed in matrimonial home, is self employed and being careful what he earns:unsure: can he claim child maintenance from mum as she is on paper earning more even though mum has the child allowance in her name??

Thanks

MAB

If the child lives with Mum, then no he cant claim CM.

CM is to help with the costs of everyday living expenses that children incur.

Child lives with both parents and will ultimately have shared residence sorted properly, current overnights are slightly weighted towards mum in that she has 8 out 14 nights in a rolling two week pattern... as mentioned above she has the child allowance being paid to her and is receiving relevant tax credits...

main concern is dad turning up at some point claiming mum is 'earning' more than him and asking her for CM??

MAB

CM, as calculated by the CSA would look at the number of nights spent with each parent - and it would be the parent with the majority of nights (and also in receipt of Child Benefit) that would be entitled to seek CM.

He can apply for CM, but if he has the child for a lesser number of nights than Mum, its unlikely he would be awarded any CM.

logically thats how it should work, but I was guessing CSA can be a bit random if they became involved...

this is not the case but an views on what would happen if in this instance mum was earning significantly more than dad, still had slightly more overnights and was still in reciept of child allowance, say he became un-employed and she still earned £35k a year, (she doesn't) just trying to understand how 'the system' works??

MAB

As long as she carries on having the child benefit paid to her she will still be classed as parent with care, so won't have to pay.

However, if overnights shift so he has the child the majority of the time he could apply to have the child benefit paid to him. If he were successful this would mean that she would then be liable for child support, irrespective of their comparative earnings.

At the moment mum can claim from him, though as he is self-employed and can manipulate his income she might not get much and it would be reduced pro rata according to the number of overnights he has the child.

Best wishes,
Sadie

thanks, this is how I thought it would work, the divorce is pending and 'Clean Break' is being discussed thus avoiding spousal maintenance between one another in future, achieving that then having a potential CM cliam would need to be addressed...

by the sound of things the clean break can be achieved wihout having to look over ones shoulder too much..

many thanks

MAB