child maintenance.

gizmobilly

does anyone have any advice.myself and partner are due to get married and have 3 children.he has a child from a previous relationship.their child is 12 years old.he always took the child every weekend and because he is not working due to illness they had an agreement that he take the child 2 or 3 days a week and not pay maintenance.however she had a fall out wit me recently and has sent a court order for maintenance.we are struggling financially at the moment but we understand this has to be done.does anyone have any idea on how much he will have to pay and how its calculated.he is only receiving disability benefit so income is very low.

Kimbot

Giz, he will be summonsed into court where he wil be means tested on his income and expendature and the judge will rule as to what he can pay. Don't lie on any of the forms and make sure you put all necessities on them rather than €40 a week on shoes and the likes and all shall be well.

gizmobilly

as a family of 5 we are struggling on an income of 400.would we need a solicitor and is it possible he may have to pay out up to 80 euro?

Kimbot

gizmobilly wrote: »

as a family of 5 we are struggling on an income of 400.would we need a solicitor and is it possible he may have to pay out up to 80 euro?

Yes.. he might be entitled to free legal aid.
http://www.legalaidboard.ie/LAB/Publishing.nsf/Content/Home

He could be asked to pay alot more than 80 euro a week. He could have to pay back maintenance. Your income should not be included with his as you are unmarried so make sure that nothing from your income gets mentioned.

gizmobilly

if they took 100 euro or more that would be half his income.what would the judge expect him to support our family on?how does it change then when we are married?

Nevyn

Legally he only has to maintaine the children and himself, when he is married he has to maintaine you and all the children.

MysticalSoul

You will be asked to draw up an Affidavit of Means, which is basically a list of all income and expenditure. Does he have receipts covering the past 12 months regarding income? No Judge would really ask one party to pay another if they could not support themselves. Your OH's ex would also have to submit similar documentation. I doubt any Judge would ask your OH to pay anything if he is on disability benefit to be honest, and they can't ask you to pay for it (am assuming you work yourself), as you were not involved with the ex. However, you would need to check what happens once you do get married.

gizmobilly

im on maternity leave at the moment.this is all just so stressful to be honest.

seahorse

Why dont you suggest to your partner that he attempt to revert to the old arrangement? It would suit all sides I'd imagine, especially the child, who should not be seeing less of his/her father just because he has started a new relationship.

Kimbot

gizmobilly wrote: »

im on maternity leave at the moment.this is all just so stressful to be honest.

The legal aid board will help you out, please contact them ASAP as the stress will get worse if you don't.

dresden8

Don't forget to put down all expenses

Food
Dentist
Doctor
Clothes
Bus fares
toothpaste
haircuts
motorway tolls
petrol
rent
house insurance
yadda yadda yadda

If you add all this stuff up it probably comes in higher than your earnings.

Forget nothing. Nothing is too small, if it's a euro a week averaged over the year, add it in. You're stuck in a pretty nasty game at the moment, take no prisoners.

seahorse

dresden8 wrote: »

Don't forget to put down all expenses

Food
Dentist
Doctor
Clothes
Bus fares
toothpaste
haircuts
motorway tolls
petrol
rent
house insurance
yadda yadda yadda

You're stuck in a pretty nasty game at the moment, take no prisoners.

I would advise you to add condoms to that list. Look I'm not trying to be cruel, I know you're pregnant and under stress, but I am not very sympathetic to your partners situation to be honest. If he cannot afford to support his first child I can’t imagine why he had four more.

There is an awful lot of negative talk around the issue of single mothers to be read here on boards and elsewhere, but it is just typical that when someone comes on looking for advice on how to assist a man in shirking the responsibility of paying maintenance for his own child he is advised to "take no prisoners". This attitude is a perfect example of how single mothers are made reliant on social welfare benefits in the first place.

Whoever the mother of this mans first child is, I sincerely hope she "takes no prisoners" also.

gizmobilly

partner has asked to revert to old arrangement but she contacted me and said she is going to hit me where it hurts.very bitter.he is not contesting paying maintenance.he always had the child almost hlf the week but as that has changed obviously the situation has.he also wasnt always on disability.his ex is not on social welfare benefit.she has a full time well paid job.that is neither here nor there though.my question is just how much we will have to pay out based on the income into our household.

TequilaMockingBird

Go to your local Citizens Information Centre, they usually have a solicitor giving free legal advice one night a week.

I would imagine the order for maintenance will be minimal, it will be shared between all your partners children, if you get me.


http://findaddress.citizensinformation.ie/service_finder/

gizmobilly

thats what i was hoping because that would be only fair.i dont see the logic in if he had to pay 80 euro or more when that would mean his other kids are penalised then.

Nevyn

Look there is no set ammount the court would have to take a look at what he can afford
and it gets awarded on that bases.

board om

Hey OP,

first off dont panic. this is absolutley fine. i was through this before and it is pretty simple.

first off you wont need a solicitor. you can get one if you want but family court is a lot more civilised than criminal court so it isnt that bad. secondly, i dont think legal aid covers you for family court. i am not 100% on that but tbh it shouldnt be an issue as a solicitor isnt really needed. solicitors just drag everything out longer and they are only really needed for divorce and seperation cases.

if your partner has been unwell and he is on social welfare, then they will ask for as little as €10 per week until he gets himself sorted. nothing she can say will change that. she can tell all the lies she wants but if he is unable to pay the money they will not ask for it. for example i would normally pay about €400 per month maintenance and all schooling and extra activities on top of that. when i was in hospital last year and couldnt work for 3 months, they lowered my maintenance to about €10 or €20 per week becuase i was on disability and couldnt pay the full amount. as i said, the family court is quite civilised. you shouldnt really come in to it and his ex will realise after the first court sitting that she is not getting at you, she is getting at him and their child. the whole thing has nothing to do with you at all. the whole reason myself and my ex ended up in court was for the same reason. we broke up about 10 years ago, but about 5 years ago i started going out with someone new and my ex took a serious dislike to her. so we ended up in court and it has actually gone in my favour since then. i get guarantedd custody, there is no more paying maintenance and then being asked for more money a week later becuase her mother wants to go away for a weekend. everything is set in stone so there is no arguments. in fact when i ended up on disability for those 3 months my childs mother made a big fuss about wanting the same maintenance she always got and the court basically told her to cop on and grow up. so if i were you i would see this as a good thing. take advantage of the situation and use the time in the court to get everything sorted out between everyone.

if you need any other information on it just PM me and i can fill you in.

good luck

Croc

jonny24ie wrote: »

Yes.. he might be entitled to free legal aid.
http://www.legalaidboard.ie/LAB/Publishing.nsf/Content/Home

He could be asked to pay alot more than 80 euro a week. He could have to pay back maintenance. Your income should not be included with his as you are unmarried so make sure that nothing from your income gets mentioned.

Thats partially incorrect, legally they can only backdate the maintenance to the date she filed the application with the Courts.

As board om says if you want any more info pm me, been through this as well and know the inside track. Four years a go i felt the same as you do now but i have come out the other end smiling. I know this is a worry at the moment but eventually it will sort its self out and in a year or so you can look back on it and laugh as i do now.

What board om is saying is good advice.

I would advise you go to the civil legal aid board or (employ a solicitor privately if you can afford it) as some one advised earlier. Unfortunately you may have a wait to get a solicitor appointed by the civil legal aid board but i think they should be faster than they were due to a high court case from about 2 years ago.

Kimbot

Croc wrote: »

Thats partially incorrect, legally they can only backdate the maintenance to the date she filed the application with the Courts.

No they can backdate the maintenance from the birth of the child. I've been there, done that and worn the t-shirt.

Croc

So have i and you are incorrect

brokensoul

jonny24ie wrote: »

No they can backdate the maintenance from the birth of the child. I've been there, done that and worn the t-shirt.

Not unless the application was made at the time of the birth they cant.

The legal aid board will give you assistance if you cant afford a private solicitor.

OP, i know that if may be hard for you to see this but try not to make this a battle between your needs and the needs of his first child. He fathered the child, he has a legal and moral duty to maintain them.

Gordon

jonny24ie wrote: »

No they can backdate the maintenance from the birth of the child. I've been there, done that and worn the t-shirt.

Croc wrote: »

So have i and you are incorrect

And so goes any advice that borders on legal advice on an internet forum.

OP, get professional advice.