How much is enough

Just a question I wanted to throw out there......

Child Maintainence how much is enough? . Whatever I pay I get "you are only paying the legal minimum" .

Lets be straight here. I pay around £550 a month for my 2 children. I get one of them every second weekend for 3 days. I currently pay half the mortgage and debts still left. I have also sucked up lots of joint debt.

I will ALWAYS pay for my children they are my responsibility but I do not believe the money is used for them.

If 20% of my income is what the government say they need then why dont single parents get that amount on top of the dole????

Face

facebooked,

I think youre being very generous, yes legally you are paying the minimum, but that term just makes it sound like youre being tight with your children and as far as im concerned £550 is more than enough for 2 children per month to live not wanting for anything.

I am in the same position, i pay 20% of my net income and i am told by my ex that im only paying the minimum, it stinks really as i too will always pay for them, they have full wardrobes of clothes with me and bedrooms full of all they could need, and yet i still get that line that im only paying the minimum!!...

i think there should be a standard amount paid per child, just as there is for benefits etc, afterall how can someone paying £550 a month and someone paying £700 a month both be paying the minimum!?!

I am the same. I have a house full of things for my children they want for nothing when they are here. I am the one that has to do all of the running around!.

The will always be my responsibility. But I HATE underwriting her lifestyle. She had nothing before we met. While everything you have is meant to be joint all of the money and lifestyle came from me.

I also think if I improve myself and get a better job she should NOT get any more money at all. I wanted to take the kids as what I do I can juggle the childcare. But she ended up with them. This was her choice so why should I pay.

She works part time only so she can get working tax credit etc. She will also be entitled to housing benefit when the house is sold. How is it that someone like me who pays vast amounts of tax can end up with less money for my family than someone working 16hrs!

If 20% of my income is what the government say they need then why dont single parents get that amount on top of the dole????

Precisely. I like the way on a JSA award it says that I am going to Get £65 per week because that is what the Government says I need to live on. Yea right they should try it. Tax credits and child benefit take it up to £193 per week. That is for everything not just the kids.

You are paying £550 per month for the kids and half the mortgage. I afraid that some mothers think that the father pays for the kid eclusively and they have no financial responsibility, like my ex.

We shouldnt just say mothers. Though through cercumstance that is case most of the time.

Just why the hell!. I have costs too.

and just noticed my really bad spelling sorry all lol.

The minimum amount of CSA is £5 a week, which is what I was getting for my two boys while my ex was unemployed and claiming Job Seekers Allowance. The mortgage wasn't being paid and we very nearly lost the house before it could be sold.

Some people don't even get £5 a week - you only have to look around this site to find countless people receiving absolutely nothing.

The next time your ex starts moaning about only receiving the "minimum" from you, remind her that there are others who get an awful lot less. And maybe suggest that if she wants more money she should work more. It's what I did.