Start of the process

Hi,

Quick resume - Married for 12 yrs, 2 kids under 8 and the x2b decided in June she didn't love me and wanted out. She left the family home in August and i have now started seeing someone, i didn't expect to meet someone but we met and clicked and i'm enjoying there company.

The x2b now wants to divorce and is blaming me for the seperation in June and that she was only going to find herself, not to get it on with the bloke i found a text on her phone from.

Anyhow, i am trying to get her to go down the cheaper route and not employ solicitors as far as possible as we are talking again and both seem to want the same thing. The major stumbling block is child maintenance, on the CSA website the calculator states i should pay arond £40 p/week however she has been to a solicitor and is asking for £358 p/month, i only get paid £1500 in my hand and after bills, food, loans etc i'm left with a couple of hundred quid. She states that the pension element in the csa calculator shouldn't be in there which is why our figures don't match, Is she right?

Thanks for reading and any thoughts appreciated.

CSA for 2 kids will be 20% of your net income so it should be easy to work out!

I thought it took into account nights kids with non main carer and the calculator takes into account national ins, tax and pension payments. I could be wrong but i thought the 20% was a starting point.

CSA calculation will be based on NET income after tax and NI contributions. There are deductions for the number of nights you have the kids

If you go on their website you can use their calculator without telling them who you are. Then you can put your figures in confidentially.

Empty wallet,
Welcome to wikivorce. We would say Not Full Wallet here - ever the optomists

Your pension contribution is legitamately deductible from yout nett income for child maintenance purposes. However, your pension pot is also part of the marital asset pot, so what you win on the swings, you lose on the roundabouts.

You have been married for 12 years, considered a long marriage. The starting point for the plit of assets is 50:50. This is slewed by the provisions of the Matrimonial Causues act sect 25 whcih takes account of all kinds of things:

(a) The income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each spouse has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future including, in the case of earning capacity, any increase in that capacity which it would be, in the opinion of the court, reasonable to expect a person to take steps to acquire.
(b) The financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each spouse has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future.
(c) The standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage.
(d) The ages of each spouse and the duration of the marriage.
(e) Any physical or mental disability of each spouse.
(f) The contributions which each spouse has made or is likely to make in the foreseeable future to the welfare of the family, including any contribution by looking after the home or caring for the family.
(g) The conduct of each spouse, if that conduct is such that it would in the opinion of the Court be inequitable to disregard.
(h) The value to each spouse of any benefit which one spouse because of the divorce will lose the chance of acquiring (most usually pension provision).

SO to arrive at a snsible split of assets a number of factors need to be looked at.

Your/her ages
Your / her nett income (after Tax NI and Pension) - £1500/?
Length of marriage: 12 years
Age of children: 2 under 8
Value of marital home
Outstanding Mortgage
Any investments, assets, shares etc over £500
Any debts, personal or marital
Any pensions and their Cash Equivalent Transfer Value

Given the age of your children and the fact that your wife will be the primary carer, you are looking at minimum of 10 years support for them.

On that basis and assuming your wife was not working or working part time, you are looking at an asset split of around 70%+ to your wife and

I've done that, it includes a pension element which is where i got my figures from for maintenace, my ex spoke to her solicitor who advised that the pension contribution should not be used in the calculation, this is where i'm confused, the CSA calculator asks for the pension element but the ex doesn't think it should be included. This would mean i was -£20 with bills, food, etc after being paid!

Thanks Mike62, thats pretty much what i thought, although 70/30 seems a bit steep!!