maintenance Q's. advice needed

newmummy

so my ds (8mths) dad is stalling on paying maintenance. first of all he ignores all contact i try to make with him, demands paternity test, paternity confirmed, he needs time to take this in..... says we sort maintenance when he can figure out his finances and throws a few cheap shots at my personal life. so today he says he wants to go thru courts for it all to be done proper and legal but he is on a waiting list for legal aid and it could be a while. is he even entitled to legal aid, he works full time 40 odd hours a week??? has now blocked my phone and facebook cutting off all contact with me
not my problem i'm thinking. i had a summons ready to go when he told me that we sort something ourselves, delighted that he finally standing up to the mark so when i get this bombshell this morning i went straight to post office and summons will be delivered tomorrow via registered post.
so my question is.....
*** is it only his income that comes into it when judge is deciding on amount (i mean that his wife is on very good money and would be lot more income in their house than mine) i know she shouldnt have to pay for his son
***what is the average payment for one child?
***do my income and outgoings ie mortgage, car, home heating etc come into it. i have to keep a roof over his head and keep him warm.

if anyone can answer any of my questions i'd really appreciate it,
thanks, Holly. X

angelfire9

newmummy wrote: »

so my ds (8mths) dad is stalling on paying maintenance. first of all he ignores all contact i try to make with him, demands paternity test, paternity confirmed, he needs time to take this in..... says we sort maintenance when he can figure out his finances and throws a few cheap shots at my personal life. so today he says he wants to go thru courts for it all to be done proper and legal but he is on a waiting list for legal aid and it could be a while. is he even entitled to legal aid, he works full time 40 odd hours a week??? has now blocked my phone and facebook cutting off all contact with me
not my problem i'm thinking. i had a summons ready to go when he told me that we sort something ourselves, delighted that he finally standing up to the mark so when i get this bombshell this morning i went straight to post office and summons will be delivered tomorrow via registered post.
so my question is.....
*** is it only his income that comes into it when judge is deciding on amount (i mean that his wife is on very good money and would be lot more income in their house than mine) i know she shouldnt have to pay for his son
***what is the average payment for one child?
***do my income and outgoings ie mortgage, car, home heating etc come into it. i have to keep a roof over his head and keep him warm.

if anyone can answer any of my questions i'd really appreciate it,
thanks, Holly. X

Yes it is only his income though when looking at his expenses the judge MAY take into consideration his wife's income
There is NO average payment it will be entirely at the judge's discretion
Yes your outgoings are important prepare a detailed statement of means and bring it to court

Kildrought

In general (and remember like all generalities, this one will have an exception somewhere!) the second income in the household will be be considered as making some contribution to the household expenses given that an extra person is living there.

It tends to balance out & primarily it's the child's parent who will be assessed for maintenance.

The amount of maintenance is based on each parents income and expenditure; so yes all your outgoings as well as all your income will be taken into account.

Anecdotal evidence (and I stress this is anecdotal) suggests that something in the region of €85 per week per child would be common; the max that can be awarded in District Court is €150 per week per child.

Fittle

I don't think 85pw would be the 'norm' in this economy - I'm involved with a parents organisation and know that in the past 6 months, the 'average' maintenance awarded when the father is working f/t would be more in the region of 50pw.

Each judge is different OP. I have been to the district court 4 times and each experience was completely different to the previous one and depeneded solely on the mood/temprement of the judge. In one court sitting, my childs father was allowed to speak (giving his tales of woe:rolleyes:) for 40 minutes...I got to swear on the bible, confirm my name, and confirm that my expenses list was correct..and then I was politely dismissed!!

Also, one judge acknowledged that he had a partner living with him and that even though the house was in his name, his utility bills were probably halved - another judge completely ignored the fact that there was a second income in his household.

All of your expenses are taken into account (your mortgage, car loans etc) but be reminded that you won't ge 'half' of those costs..it wil be a judgement call based on your disposable income after your bills.
Best of luck OP>

Big Bag of Chips

There's a good spreadsheet on the website WWW.solo.ie.

It's in the section about Maintenance Questions. (I can't post the link at the moment)

You can both fill it out for your own households. The judge on the day may ask for proof of expenses.

Your ex is just stalling, hoping you'll get fed up!

Abi

newmummy wrote: »

so my ds (8mths) dad is stalling on paying maintenance. first of all he ignores all contact i try to make with him, demands paternity test, paternity confirmed, he needs time to take this in..... says we sort maintenance when he can figure out his finances and throws a few cheap shots at my personal life. so today he says he wants to go thru courts for it all to be done proper and legal but he is on a waiting list for legal aid and it could be a while. is he even entitled to legal aid, he works full time 40 odd hours a week??? has now blocked my phone and facebook cutting off all contact with me
not my problem i'm thinking. i had a summons ready to go when he told me that we sort something ourselves, delighted that he finally standing up to the mark so when i get this bombshell this morning i went straight to post office and summons will be delivered tomorrow via registered post.
so my question is.....
*** is it only his income that comes into it when judge is deciding on amount (i mean that his wife is on very good money and would be lot more income in their house than mine) i know she shouldnt have to pay for his son
***what is the average payment for one child?
***do my income and outgoings ie mortgage, car, home heating etc come into it. i have to keep a roof over his head and keep him warm.

if anyone can answer any of my questions i'd really appreciate it,
thanks, Holly. X

Yes, both parties incomes and outgoings are taken into account. As another poster said, there is no set amount per child, the judge will grant what they believe is fair considering both incomes and expenditure.

You are aware he's been stalling on this, so accept no more promises that it can be settled out of court. There is no harm in having an official amount set by the court. If you accept another excuse for him, you may miss your court date, he may let you down again, and before you know it you're back to square one at the court offices and another couple of months wait for it to be addressed.

With both of them working I can't see how he would be entitled to legal aid, open to correction of course, but he may be just trying to dodge having to pay his own solicitors fees. Thats not your problem, you've a child to support, and he also has a responsibility to financially support this child too.

Best of luck OP.

newmummy

thanks guys for the replies.. have court date for 3 weeks time. have rang my car finance company for current statement, same with mortgage, credit union etc to have proof of all outgoings. i dont want to screw him over (although he can well afford it) i just want him to "MAN" up if thats possible although his wife carries his balls around in her handbag, he dont have a voice at all. time i took my own liathroidi out i think

Abi

newmummy wrote: »

thanks guys for the replies.. have court date for 3 weeks time. have rang my car finance company for current statement, same with mortgage, credit union etc to have proof of all outgoings. i dont want to screw him over (although he can well afford it) i just want him to "MAN" up if thats possible although his wife carries his balls around in her handbag, he dont have a voice at all. time i took my own liathroidi out i think

You're thinking straight now NM. He has a responsibility here, and he won't accept it / trying to evade it. Once he is court ordered to pay a set amount of maintenance he must pay this to you, or you can land him back in court to do so. He'd want to have a damn good reason not to have been paying you, or he could land himself in hot water. I *think* once the unpaid maintenance hits about €600 you can go to your court offices and claim for back maintenance. This will only mean he has to pay you up to that point, if he goes a further you will have to go back to the offices and advise them of the extra dates he has missed and they may add that to the same court date. Stay on the ball with your dates and figures, keep everything recorded.

If he is irresponsible and immature enough to not set up the payment, then you can apply for an attachment of earnings and the court can order your daughters money to be taken from source, his employer.

newmummy

ok so we were in court yesterday. he had applied for legal aid (works full time, wife earns twice what he does, hardly eleigble, anyway none my business) and had letter to show this has 4 month waiting list. no problem says judge, we put it back to april until his aid comes through. she asks me how old my son was and how much maintenance he had paid so far. not one penny was my reply. judge asked him could he pay 50e p/w week, oh god no your honor he says (1000e p/w between him and his wife) well i'm ordering u to pay 40e, same as someone on welfare would be required to pay, and when we go back in april everything will be assessed.
well, to say he's like a demon is an understatement.

Stench Blossoms

newmummy wrote: »

ok so we were in court yesterday. he had applied for legal aid (works full time, wife earns twice what he does, hardly eleigble, anyway none my business) and had letter to show this has 4 month waiting list. no problem says judge, we put it back to april until his aid comes through. she asks me how old my son was and how much maintenance he had paid so far. not one penny was my reply. judge asked him could he pay 50e p/w week, oh god no your honor he says (1000e p/w between him and his wife) well i'm ordering u to pay 40e, same as someone on welfare would be required to pay, and when we go back in april everything will be assessed.
well, to say he's like a demon is an understatement.

It's a horrible situation to be in but what his wife earns is exactly what you've said there. Non of your business.

Moonbeam

The spouses income is often taken in to account.
Have a list of everything that you buy for your son and how much he costs you a week. Hopefully you will be awarded half this amount.

newmummy

i'm just saying that there is a good wage between the 2 of them to run a household. 1 income in mine, and thats only part time hours that tops up my opfa and fis is very little. i'd say i'd be pushing it if i say i have €400 p/w but i know i'm not badly off yet, wait until changes to opfa comes into force in january then we'll see where i stand