ex-husband is to have more kids

I have been divorced for around 4 years and have two children for whom my ex-husband pays around 20% of net income for (he earns quite a good salary) and I have been happy with the informal arrangment. HOwever, he is going to re-marry and wants more kids. I am concerned about my childrens rights or do they even have any after they are 18? Should I be trying to sort out a formal financial arrangement with a solicitor? I did a quickie divorce online and have not had legal advice as we agreed on the finances. We both have around £400k capital in our houses and I gave up a professional career (chartered accountant) to look after our children. Any advice please?

Your maintenance would reduce if he has further childnre as the CSA takes into account all of his childrne in etermining maintenance. Any maintenace (whether for you or the children) can always be varied if circumstances change, and having another child would of course be a change in circumstances)

In terms of other 'rights' I assume that you are thinking of what would happen in terms of inheritance if he died?

There is no automatic right to an inheritance for adult children - He is free (as are you) to leave his property however he wants.

Any child would potentially have a claim against his estate if he failed to make reasonable provision for them, but 'reasonable provision' depends on the specific circumstances - for example, it can be perfectly reasonable to make noprovision for an adult child, especially if there is a spouse / partner or minor children who are dependent, and there is no obligation to treat all children equally.

If your claims have not been extinguished by a court order, you would also potentially have a cliam agisnt his estate, although in relaity this would probably only be sucessful if he dies while still paying mainence for the children, in which case you might be entitled to claim a lump sum to replace lost maintenance.

If you didn't have a formal order at the time of you divorce you could consier seeking to agree one now - for example, to try to agree what suppor you will each provide for the children if any of them go on to University, for instance.