i know this calculator is just a guideline, however can anyone explain why the two calculations for maintance.
1 ­base­d on outgoing data
2 ­base­d on household/childcare data

i know there will be a reson behind this and will likley be explained somewhere but dont see it, and just wondered why two different amounts calculated.

Does anyone know if the principles behind this apply also to scotland (i know in scotland they prefer clean break) but i was going to look into maintance (even if it was for 3-4 years) by then daughter would be 14 and i might be able to gradualy over this period increase my hours at work (they wont allow me to at the moment) Im also assuming if both parties come to some sort of agreement which suits the situation in relation to child and spouce maintance then we would just get lawyers to proceed with (concent order)to make things legal and binding.

I have applied for CTC/WTC but even with part time income and child maintance he has decided to pay i still dont make enough to pay out all the outgoings, at the moment husband is paying these but through time is expecting me to do so, only way i could do that just now is by taking a job at night or weekends (which i would do) but draw back is no childcare -

Remembering that the calc is a huge guesstimation and gives a maintenance figure for spousal maintenance cases (if you only need child maintenance use the csa calculator).....

it gives two alternative guesses at the same monthly maintenance figure.

1) is ­base­ed on more data - ie including detailed outgoings so should be more accurate

2) is an even bigger guess ­base­d on incomes only


if you entered outgoings then (1) should be a better guess

Hi there
The maintenance calculator was what first drew me to this site as I was trying to find out where I stood financially.
I realise you say the calculator is only a guesstimate , but it asks for length of marriage , number of children , ages etc . I put in all these figures with details of outgoings , mortgages and incomes etc ( 6 years married no children )
The Calculator came up with a huge figure for maintenance ( for me!) when actually I have been told will be unlikely to be able to claim anything in the way of maintenance although may get bigger share of assets .
Im not sure if it perhaps works better for those with children .
I am interested to know if anyone has found it accurate or if anyone has used it as a guide ?

worked out what i thought was a highish figure for me as well, was not sure if things like tax credits and child benefit should have been deducted somewhere along the line as well. i was just using it to try and find out where i stood as well, as trying to come to our own agreement first of all before running by a lawyer. felt the split of the house in my situation 70/30 was about right taking into account big difference in our income and i have child - like you i would be interested to know if other people have found it accurate in their situations or if it has helped them come to agreements

Hi
I would imagine tac credits etc should go down as your income , however I played around with the figures and looked at an increase in my income ( which I am hoping for!) and still it came out with high level of maintenance . He earns a lot more than I could ever hope to earn and I think calculator just divides up any extra income . In reality it doesnt seem to work like that at all . I think this site is just great and have lots of help here but I think the calculator is a little misleading .
Would be good to hear if anyone has used it succesfully as a negotiating tool , either from the asset split calculation or from the maintenance calculation .

shinyhappy people,

You say a couple of things which seem contradictory....

"I have been told will be unlikely to be able to claim anything in the way of maintenance"

and

"He earns a lot more than I could ever hope to earn"

In the eyes of UK divorce law - marriage is a partnership and you are en­title­d to a fair share of the fruits of the marriage.

Those "fruits" include the current assets but they also include the "earning capacity" of each partner - which is in itself a kind of asset.

If he earns a lot more than you could ever hope to earn - and the law works on the basis of putting you on an equal footing - why don't you think that you are en­title­d to any maintenance? Was it a very short marriage?

Similar situation. Earnings higher than I could ever hope to earn because of MY investment. Pensions the same. Also earns enough to squirrel away £4k a month into unknown accounts. Look forward to more posts. Wikivorce calc seems to give me 60% of assetts plus a grand maintainance per month. Doesn't seem a situation somebody would agree to. PM me if you have had results from calculator. Thanks