Ex trying to reduce maintenance advice please!!!

Balmom

Hi, ex who is already in arrears is taking me to court to reduce maintenance. He works and i lost my job while on maternity leave and as it stands now we are not even close to paying 50/50. I was going to take him back to try to get amount raised. He has plenty of money. He just doesnt want to pay for my son. He claims he has another baby and thats the reason. Anyone ay experience of this? How fair are judges? Will they just reduce it because he has another baby. He has other kids like my son he doesnt see or support. Im just stressing over the unknown and feel its another insult to my poor son. He has gotten away with so much already. Advice welcome. Thanks

Klingon Hamlet

Balmom wrote: »

Hi, ex who is already in arrears is taking me to court to reduce maintenance. He works and i lost my job while on maternity leave and as it stands now we are not even close to paying 50/50. I was going to take him back to try to get amount raised. He has plenty of money. He just doesnt want to pay for my son. He claims he has another baby and thats the reason. Anyone ay experience of this? How fair are judges? Will they just reduce it because he has another baby. He has other kids like my son he doesnt see or support. Im just stressing over the unknown and feel its another insult to my poor son. He has gotten away with so much already. Advice welcome. Thanks

Court ordered maintenace is means tested. Get all your income and expenditure added up and laid out clearly for your solicitor and for the judge. Contact FLAC for free legal aid and for a free solicitor. Judges are sympathetic, they will see how worried you are, and they will do right by you and your son.

sophia25

Balmom, He can only take you to Court to vary maintenance and there is no guarantee what way the court will rule. They may even increase the maintenance so he's taking a risk. If you have a date for the variation hearing and it is more than three weeks away, call into Court Office with evidence of arrears and apply for an Enforcement of Court Order summons. You will need to swear the arrears in front of judge and then a new summons will issue to include the enforcement hearing, you won't be able to bring up arrears unless you do this. If he hasn't gone in for date yet, you do it. Be proactive and get a date for Court. Once you have summons, make an urgent appt. with Legal Aid Board (tell them you have a court date) and they will usually appoint a private practice solicitor to represent you on the day. If you need any more infor. just ask.

James Jones

Don't worry, Balmon.
Maintenance hearings nearly always go against fathers and for mothers. The rumours and anecdotal evidence that we have all heard about the family law courts being unfair to fathers has been recently supported by THIS REPORT. Check out page 55 which shows that other than the ones that were adjourned, 100% of maintenance hearings were in favor of the mother regardless of who brought the case to Court.
In your case, it seems that you are being treated unfairly but the court will most likely favor you anyway so don't worry.

Das Kitty

Warning for James Jones for soap-boxing

metrovelvet

Thats if you were married. Plenty of kids are getting a tenner a week off their dads. Or nothing.

Klingon Hamlet

metrovelvet wrote: »

Thats if you were married. Plenty of kids are getting a tenner a week off their dads. Or nothing.

Social welfare's means tested. Court ordered maintenance affects welfare. So a lot of maintenance is paid outside of court, therefore off the books, therefore the statistics I presume you're basing your comment on are quite off-target and unrealistic.

Besides, the OP's looking for advice on what to do, not broad generalisations (or should I call it gender-alisations.)

OP I have extensive experience in the courts. If there's any way I can help, please PM me. Either way, best of luck but you won't need it, you'll do fine:)

padr81

Balmom wrote: »

Hi, ex who is already in arrears is taking me to court to reduce maintenance. He works and i lost my job while on maternity leave and as it stands now we are not even close to paying 50/50. I was going to take him back to try to get amount raised. He has plenty of money. He just doesnt want to pay for my son. He claims he has another baby and thats the reason. Anyone ay experience of this? How fair are judges? Will they just reduce it because he has another baby. He has other kids like my son he doesnt see or support. Im just stressing over the unknown and feel its another insult to my poor son. He has gotten away with so much already. Advice welcome. Thanks

Judges in general are pretty fair with it tbh. Make sure you have all your financials and bills sorted. Make sure you know exactly how much your spending per week/month on everything to do with your son. Bring your esb bills etc.. and have your financials in order.

If this guy is on minimum wage, paying rent and paying maintainance for a couple of kids than he may get it reduced. Someone on 400 a week paying 150 rent, with full household bills to pay may get away with paying little especially if he has proof of his financial situation.

I know of one guy who pays a court ordered €10.50 for his child (because he could prove its all he could afford.) and another who pays €120 for 2 kids. Normally in this part of the country it balances out at around €30 per child.

RichMc70

Klingon Hamlet wrote: »

Court ordered maintenace is means tested. Get all your income and expenditure added up and laid out clearly for your solicitor and for the judge. Contact FLAC for free legal aid and for a free solicitor.

Exactly what I would have said.

Good luck.