whats fair

hi,

me and x have our children 50%, we both pay for their day to day living whilst with each of us but i cover all other costs e.g. clothes, clubs, school trips, holidays etc.

we both have a low income and mine is benefits, i had to resign from a 70k job after 10 years in 07 due to illness,

am i wrong to expect some help toward the childrens "other" costs

mancity

Mancity

You need to give more details - how many children do you have, how old are they, is it exactly 50/50 care, who gets the child benefit, does either of you pay CM

Mon

Leaving aside what's ' fair ', can we have a look at this from a different angle.

You are on benefits. You say your wife is on a low income. So the obvious question is, can she afford to pay you ? It is possible she can't afford to pay you anything.

Next problem. If she could afford to pay you anything,
wouldn't that just be deducted pound for pound from your benefits ?

It can sometimes be unwise to set spousal maintenance at a level which takes the recipient off benefits. It is better to leave him/her on income support so that he/she can get the fringe benefits that go with being on income support like free prescriptions, free school meals and entitlement to legal aid.

I think it would be a good idea for you to have a benefit s check at a CAB, if you havn't already had one.

Mike

we have 2 children 9 and 11, i get child benefit for both. X gets child tax credit and working tax credit for one child.

neither of us pays the other any child maintainence although i spend considerably more, much more than cm provides.

for e.g. childrens shoes x 2, twice per year for school cost 120...both children have wide feet and need clarks. then there is their playing shoes, sports shoes...... and thats just shoes!

Mancity

Do you know how much income she is on?

How does it compare to yours?

You are getting the CB for both children - about £125 every four weeks, Does your ex think this should be used to buy the children's "other" costs?

I'm not having a go at you, I'm playing devils advocate. I share care of my 2 children with my ex2b 50/50, she get the CB and I pay her CSA rates for the children less my over nights. We each have clothes and toys and bikes etc at each house and we split the costs of trips, uniforms, clubs etc exactly half each.

Mon