Maintainence

Katie10

Hi. I am going through a really messy separation. We have 1 son. I had to leave the family home and rent. I have 2 other kids. He has not seen his son in 15 months, has not paid a cent and is disputing paternity. He works full-time and his only expense is he pays 200 a month on the mortgage- he never paid a cent ever towards it in the whole of our relationship. He lives with his brother and so has no bills in his name except for his phone and car insurance. I can only work part-time as one of my other kids is autistic. As I work I qualify for no benefits whatsoever. I only get a very small amount of maintainence for the others. What figure of maintainence should I be pursuing- I know a court won't grant anything til paternity is established- to be honest he is hoping the child is not his so he don't have to pay. All his wages are spent in the pub. I am seeing a legal aid solicitor about it. I know the exact details of his finances but he hasn't a clue of mine

Pandora2

Your legal aid solicitor should be able to advise you on an amount of maintenance to seek that is appropriate in terms of his income..part of a maintenance hearing is an "Affivadavit of Means" where he must truthfully set out his finances (there are penalties for lying), you are in a positive position of knowing his fiscal position and being able to challenge any anomalies. Your solicitor should go through all of this with you;)

Good luck

James Jones

Katie10 wrote: »

I know a court won't grant anything til paternity is established

Believe it or not you're wrong about this. I know it's covered by legislation and I'm not sure exactly where but THIS LINK should verify for you that

"Where parents are married to each other there is a presumption in law that the husband is the father of the child unless the contrary is proved".

And MORE good news!!!
There used to be a rule that prevented maintenance being applied for after six months but that is gone since 3rd August 2011:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=74142278&postcount=13

Six Months Rule for the District Court is now gone. That rule was in section 8(7) of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1940 which provided (as amended in 1976):

(7) No application or other proceedings (whether under this section or otherwise) for the recovery of a sum or sums payable by virtue of an [maintenance order, a variation order, an interim order], shall be maintainable in respect of any such sum which became due and payable on a day more than six months before the institution of such application or other proceedings:

Provided always that, in the case of proceedings otherwise than under this section, the Court may, if on account of special circumstances the Court so thinks proper, allow such proceedings to be maintained in respect of all or any one or more of such sums which became due and payable as aforesaid.

From the 3rd of August 2011, Section 8 of the Enforcement of Court Orders act, 1940 has been repealed and replaced by s. 63 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2011 which provides no replacement for section 8(7).
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2011/en/act/pub/0023/sec0063.html#sec63

As always this is something for a person's legal advisers to look into.

.


This means that he will have to pay maintenance for your child from the birth of your child unless he can prove that he is not the father but the onus is on him, not you.

Katie10

Thanks everyone. ye have really put my mind at rest. My solicitor seems pretty on the ball- I have been round the country to find someone to really fight my case. But obviously with legal ais she is crazy busy- I know she is going to have to write to him first and it will be a while before anything happens. But now that I know I can challenge any lies he tells that is such a load off my mind!!!

silly

If you are only working part time you should be in receipt of one parent family.
I am the mother of 1, getting no maintenance for the last few yrs on and off, suck of going to court, nothing gets done, so I've given up the fight. Obviously it will all blow up when his family realises that they won't see their granddaughter this christmas.
Anyway, was working a 9-5 job and was still getting €120 a week from the social welfare. And I was living with my parents.
I moved out 2 years ago to live with my now partner so lost my entitlements, but you should definitely be getting one parent family allowance.

James Jones

silly wrote: »

If you are only working part time you should be in receipt of one parent family.

The Maintenance Recovery Unit should have taken on your case. They are more dogged (and successful!) than Court Orders.

The Maintenance Recovery Unit will contact the liable relative if they have not paid enough maintenance, when One-Parent Family Payment is awarded.Please call the Maintenance Recovery Unit on (071) 96 72599 for more information.

silly wrote: »

Anyway, was working a 9-5 job and was still getting €120 a week from the social welfare. And I was living with my parents.
I moved out 2 years ago to live with my now partner so lost my entitlements, but you should definitely be getting one parent family allowance.

Well done to you both.

Katie10

I went to Citizens Info and they told me I qualify for nothing as my income is more than 425 per week. It is a bit unfair in some ways as I have to pay a full time au pair ( one of my other sons is autistic with Dyspraxia and Sensory Processing Disorder) and I have to travel 35 miles to work 4 or 5 days and have to pay full rent. I know the other child is none of my husband's concern but a child with his needs has to have an awful lot of money spent on him to help him and his father doesn't help out with it. A person might be working but the actual cost involved in going out to work is not taken into account.

gcgirl

Katie10 wrote: »

I went to Citizens Info and they told me I qualify for nothing as my income is more than 425 per week. It is a bit unfair in some ways as I have to pay a full time au pair ( one of my other sons is autistic with Dyspraxia and Sensory Processing Disorder) and I have to travel 35 miles to work 4 or 5 days and have to pay full rent. I know the other child is none of my husband's concern but a child with his needs has to have an awful lot of money spent on him to help him and his father doesn't help out with it. A person might be working but the actual cost involved in going out to work is not taken into account.

Have you ever thought about applying for domiciliary care allowance for your son?

James Jones

Katie10 wrote: »

It is a bit unfair in some ways as I have to pay a full time au pair ( one of my other sons is autistic with Dyspraxia and Sensory Processing Disorder) and I have to travel 35 miles to work 4 or 5 days and have to pay full rent. I know the other child is none of my husband's concern but a child with his needs has to have an awful lot of money spent on him to help him and his father doesn't help out with it. A person might be working but the actual cost involved in going out to work is not taken into account.

I think you should consider an application to Court, given your circumstances. Maintenance hearings generally go in favor of mothers as can be seen on Page 55 of THIS REPORT:

■ In Case 1, a wife sought a lump sum from her ex-husband’s savings to relieve her of her
debts. She currently got €2,445 maintenance per month but her outgoings were €4,500,
which included car loan, Credit Union, mortgage and other debts. The Court ordered that an
interim lump sum of €10,000 should be granted to her from a full settlement of €76,000.
■ In Case 2, a wife sought €340 per month for mortgage and €400 per month for
child maintenance. The couple had 5 children, although only one was dependent. The
maintenance order was granted.
■ In another 3 cases, the mother sought an increase in the maintenance allowance. Two
increases were granted, while in the third case affidavits of means were requested from both
parties to assess the maintenance to be paid (the case was adjourned).
■ In 2 other cases, the mother wanted the father to pay school fees. In one case, the father
was ordered to pay school fees, but his wife was also ordered to trim her other expenses; in
the other, the case was ill prepared and adjourned.
■ 2 cases were taken by fathers who sought to vary an existing order. In one case, the father
wanted to use the couple’s joint savings to pay maintenance of €75 per week for two
children; the Judge ordered that the savings (of almost €4,000) be split between them, but
in addition the father had to continue to pay maintenance of €90 a week indefinitely. In
the second case, the father wanted to vary maintenance and sell the family home as agreed,
now that both children had finished secondary school. The father paid the mortgage, his
own accommodation costs and €1,000 in maintenance each month. The Judge refused
to reduce the maintenance sum, but suggested that the father seek a moratorium of the
mortgage repayment until the house was sold.
Cases reported in the Courts Service’s Family Law Matters for Winter 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 2) also reveal
a variety of maintenance cases being presented in the Circuit Courts. In one case, a father was
in arrears of €5,000. He claimed his wife had a good job, while his property assets had taken a
downturn. The wife’s barrister argued that he had €700,000 in the bank, which he denied. The
Judge ordered him to produce a vouched affidavit of means and to pay his arrears (‘You have to
pay them and that’s it. Your first priority is to your children. It is unbecoming for people to fight
out disputes and get their children involved’). The Judge also added that once the affidavit of means
was examined, he could review the payments (ibid, p. 39).
In another case, a wife’s income was €907 per week, composed of €250 weekly maintenance,
State benefits of €562 (including OPFA and children’s allowances) and her work yielded another
€96. She had five children and was paying off the Credit Union loan on their house. She wanted
to increase her weekly maintenance to €400 and wanted €15,000 to buy a 5-seater van. The
husband claimed a lower income of €500 a week from his business. He had savings of €25,000.
His wife argued that his business earned €72,000 in one weekend alone. The Judge increased
the maintenance to €350, specifying €150 for the wife and €40 for each dependent child. The
husband also agreed to give her a lump sum of €12,500 towards a new car. The husband has no
interest in the family home (ibid, p. 38).
These reports indicate the variety of cases that can be taken by couples after separation and
divorce. Each case is considered on its merits and related to the data presented in Court.

egan2020

Like gcgirl suggested, I'd imagine you'd be entitled to Domcillary Care Allowance in respect of your child with autism. You'd also be entitled to FIS at a rate of 60% of the difference between your take home pay and 703 euro. You may also be entitled to claim Incapacitated Child tax credits. I realise that you are on here re the question of maintenance but you should look into the above if you haven't already done so.

Best of luck with everything

Katie10

I have applied for DCA- was refused it. Am appealing it. FIS not an option I don't work enough hours. Talking of that child I am only getting 30 euro a week maintainence for him- he easily costs me well over a 100 euro extra a week due to extra needs. I will be having that order reviewed in next 3 months- I had no diagnosis the last time, don't know if it will make a difference this time but I have loads of medical evidence of his extra needs. The impression I was getting from solicitors was that it was a case of the father saying he could only pay whatever and that was it

Big Bag of Chips

I know you are mentioning your other son who is autistic in the context of this post. Just be careful not to mention any expenses or costs (au pair etc) regarding him in court in relation to THIS maintenance case.

Your ex has a responsibility to pay maintenance towards the up keep of his son. He is not responsible for the children of your other ex. So any extra expenses you have relating to your autistic son are only between you and his dad. If he isn't paying a whole lot and most of your income is going on expenses for your autistic son, then you need to fight his dad for a fairer amount. You can't get more from your husband to compensate for the shortfall from your other ex.

You probably know that, but just incase...

Morag

They will give you the run around for months with the DCA, it's like they want you to give up applying, it is very hard to keep fighting esp when you are struggling with other things.

Katie10

Oh I know that the autistic child is a totally separate matter and absolutely nothing to do with my husband- don't worry I am having his maintainence reviewed. I made a big mistake with his and I don't want to mess up again. I was never asked to fill in an afadavitt of means that time. My solicitor saw his accounts and basically said I would have to make do with what he offered. My son wasn't diagnosed at the time but I knew what he had- but the solicitor took very little heed. The case was to be heard on 4 Jan so there was no prep and I agreed out of court to his offer. However, I have loads of medical evidence now and can detail all the extra expenses I have so hopefully I get a bit more from him. I have a different solicitor this time so we see what happens!!!