Maintenance Issues

Pandora2

Hoping someone out there can give me an unbiased opinion:D

Myself and my ex have been co-parenting our child since she was a toddler, now mid teens. He had access a couple of nights a week and most weekends. We both worked and I engaged and paid the Childminder. My ex maintained a relationship with my oldest daughter and they get on well (she is now an adult). I have remarried and am shortly moving out of Dublin to a commuter town.

He has a partner who has been around since my daughter was a toddler and they have lived together for the last 5 years. It became apparent after they moved into their house that our daughter was surplus to requirements and in the intervening time things have got steadily worse culminating in my daughter not going to her Dad's home for about 8 months. In recent weeks she has spent the odd night with him but, she has decided to ignore his partner and brazen it out. I stress that during this period he did see her but became a MacDonalds father after all these years!! To cut a long story short my daughter expressed a strong interest in staying with her Dad when we move and he said fine but they would be living with a relative as it would mean the end of his relationship!! This after telling me for two years that it was our daughter who was the problem!!

Anyhow, and as expected, she has decided to come with me and see her Dad at the weekends on a more lunch or walk in the park basis rather than the the co-parenting heretofore...he has completely stepped back.

I have my own feelings about this situation but it is practical advice I need.....I have received the same amount of maintenance since we first split in the mid-90's (E50 per week, until she was 12, I added money and paid the minder!!) and we have shared medical and additional expenses (sports/hobbies) 50/50.

Now I have recently been made redundant and although my husband is in a fairly good job and begrudges nothing to the kids should I ask for an increase in maintenance as he will no longer provide a home for her?? I had asked over the years and it was never a "good time" (It was a fairly rotten time for me too!!). As far as I know he and his partner have 3 houses between them...and both work, not sure about her but he is in a Management role.

If I should ask for more?? What kind of money do the courts award for a teenager?? It has been so long since the original award I have no clue

She is his only child and will remain so and I am also concerned that he has made legal provision for her in the event of his demise as I am reasonable sure that his partner is not interested in her welfare at all!!

I am all ears

James Jones

Every case is different and the Court hearings are held in secret so it is really hard for anyone to say what will happen if you go to court but you might consider using this extract from page 53 of Post-Separation Parenting as a guide:

Maintenance payments

The provision of maintenance is an important aspect of divorce legislation in Ireland. Accordingly, maintenance payments were included in the discussion and analysis of treatment of the family home (see above). This reflects the way in which the settlement can be seen as a package. Not all cases observed stated the maintenance sum paid – just that it was agreed and being paid.
To summarise the maintenance payments in the 87 cases examined in this study, maintenance is only payable when there are dependent children (defined as under the age of 18) or older children (up to the age of 23 if attending college). Child maintenance payments were made in 54 cases out of the total of 87 observed. Payments ranged from €140 per month to €3,000 per month. Coulter (2009b, p. 64) noted that where maintenance was specified, the amounts varied from €60-€100 per week per child, along with educational and medical expenses. There is no payment actually stipulated by any statutory agency, but it is related to the willingness of parents to pay it.
A typical lower income level payment would be €75 or €80 per child per week. This is expected to contribute to the child’s living costs, housing, clothes, food, education, mobile phone and other sundry expenses. The residential parent will also receive a Child Benefit Allowance. If a husband was unemployed or ill, the amount of maintenance ordered was lower. There were 6 cases of unpaid maintenance ‘arrears’, which can be a source of conflict between couples. Furthermore, in the District Court the non-payment of maintenance can result in fines and imprisonment. This may explain why some mothers do not pursue maintenance claims. Maintenance arrears were more likely to occur in lower income families, where the husband was unemployed, and in cases of paternal desertion.
No maintenance was paid in 4 cases where the children were living with their fathers since the mothers did not pay maintenance. There was no maintenance paid in the 3 cases where the divorced parents shared residential custody of their children. In 3 cases where the ‘children’ were independent and in 5 other cases, there was simply no reference made in judgments to paying maintenance.

Be aware that these cases are Circuit Court and so District Court (your first port of call) would, on average,be less.

Pandora2

Thank you...I had no idea of what maintenance awards run to these days, I am hoping we can do this without going to court.....so I very much wanted to pitch my request at an affordable level, I am hoping that as he has chosen this course he will be amenable to an increase:) I can dream:D

Morag

The maxium the family court can award is 150 per week.

James Jones

Sharrow wrote: »

The maxium the family court can award is 150 per week.

This is not true. The maximum you refer to is in the "District" court and any matter dealt with can be appealed to the Circuit Court or High Court. There is no actual limit on the amount of maintenance that the Courts can award other than the sky.