Re:Is there no way out of this?

We have shared residence, with 50/50 contact - she earns £42k pa I £21K and she has child benefit additionally. She is demanding £20 per week from me which apparently the CSA are fine with - is this right? To pay her that would mean i would be unable to provide my daughter a place to stay and seems grossly unfair.

I agree it stinks.

My friend has 50/50 with his son and she got most of the equity and has a new partner and is doing very nicely.

He on the other hand remains single and has his son for two weeks alternate and pays for everything for his son including school bus money, school lunch money, all clothes, pocket money etc. and STILL has to hand over money to her via the CSA! She also of course gets child benefits and any child tax credits available!

Of course he doesn't pay as much as he would if he had his son every other weekend, but still he pays over £200 per month and with her £80 per month child benefit and anything else she is on to a nice little earner and yet he gets nothing.

What gets me is the greed - we both pay equally towards childcare etc - i am on the poverty line after outgoings. yet she is legitimately allowed to claim more from me as she is in receipt of child benefit. Where's the equality in that?

Yeah its wrong and my friend gets his head around it by "forgetting about it"! And his son is 16, so only 2 years left at school. However he also pays more into his pension now and that apparently reduces his child maintenance obligation.

But, your ex doesn't have to inform the CSA. You can make an arrangement between yourselves.

Just been reading another thread of yours. You must go 50% on the house, because you have the child an equal amount and she earns much more. Have you thought of SM from her to equalise eaarnings?