Child care payments - joint responsibility???

Hi there,

I wanted to clarify who is responsible for paying for childcare on separation/divorce.

I separated over 6 months ago and until recently my ex has been paying an agreed amount which covered maintenance, mortgage and childcare. He has now reduced his monthly payment to the CSA recommended amount, saying he can''t afford to pay any more, despite earning 3x my salary! He is also claiming to have the wrong tax code and is therefore claiming his net salary is less than it should be and using this figure to calculate the amount paid......but that''s a separate issue.

I work 4 days a week (24 hours) and will be increasing this to 30 hours soon. I get some tax credits but when I increase my hours there will be no childcare element. I will be paying £700 per month in childcare fees. I have 2 children aged 3 and 6, so the youngest needs full time care, although this will reduce as he goes to school in september, but will still be at least £280 per month. i want to know if it is reasonable for my ex to contribute to the childcare costs as in my view its not covered in the maintenance payment and as we both work we should both pay for the childcare. I know it''s probably not a legal expectation, but I wanted to know if there was any precedent?

He is going to start having the children to stay for 2 days a week, one of which will be mid-week, so at the very least I think he should pay childcare on that day?

Any advice gratefully received.

Hey Help!

A difficult one! Starting with maintenance payments, its not another issue, its very valid. If he wants to reduce his maintenance in terms with what the CSA suggest, you may as well just use the CSA! They will ask for 6 weeks worth of wage slips , work out is average weekly wage and deduct 20% from that for you children. He cant use the CSA calculator and then claim his tax code is wrong!!

In terms of childcare, i would expect he should at the very least pay for the time he s using, so if he has the children one night midweek and needs to use the childcare for that night he should cover the costs. Whether he will or not is another matter! Then theres the question of whether he will pay for the childcare direct or you will be expected to pay it first and then try and get it back off him. If he agrees would your childcare provider be able to bill him separately for that day?

Does your 3 year old have his 15 hours a week free childcare entitlement?

Hi
I don''t know what the exact position is regarding CSA etc, I suspect that it is down to you to pay for the childcare.
I think reasonably you could expect him to pay for the day when the childcare he is using it, the CSA make a reduction for the days when he has the children so its not so bad. To some extent it is in his interests to enable you to achieve a higher salary as this could reduce or remove the chances of him having to pay spousal maintenance.

LB