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Child maintenance and nursery fees

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Iain4444

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Does anyone have experience balancing nursery fees and child maintenance payments?

Should i be paying both or would cms take into account that i make nursery payments and therefore reduce my cms payments?

My son currently goes to nursery on a monday and tuesday. Monday he is under my exs care and technically he is in my care on a Tuesday from 9am after she has dropped him off, as in if he is sick or cannot go i take the day off to look after him.

Cms calculator states i should pay 430pcm and i currently pay 640pcm to incorporate nursery.

Does anyone know whether it would be worth me contacting cms to get a better deal?

Court has been very expensive and is still ongoing due to dirty tricks and lies so i dont feel i should pay more than necessary and sure that my son does not see the benefit so i would rather have more control on what goes towards him.
 
Iain4444 said:
Does anyone have experience balancing nursery fees and child maintenance payments?

Should i be paying both or would cms take into account that i make nursery payments and therefore reduce my cms payments?

My son currently goes to nursery on a monday and tuesday. Monday he is under my exs care and technically he is in my care on a Tuesday from 9am after she has dropped him off, as in if he is sick or cannot go i take the day off to look after him.

Cms calculator states i should pay 430pcm and i currently pay 640pcm to incorporate nursery.

Does anyone know whether it would be worth me contacting cms to get a better deal?

Court has been very expensive and is still ongoing due to dirty tricks and lies so i dont feel i should pay more than necessary and sure that my son does not see the benefit so i would rather have more control on what goes towards him.
Click to expand...
How old is your son? Is he not entitled to 15-30 hrs free childcare?
 
Iain4444 said:
Does anyone have experience balancing nursery fees and child maintenance payments?

Should i be paying both or would cms take into account that i make nursery payments and therefore reduce my cms payments?

My son currently goes to nursery on a monday and tuesday. Monday he is under my exs care and technically he is in my care on a Tuesday from 9am after she has dropped him off, as in if he is sick or cannot go i take the day off to look after him.

Cms calculator states i should pay 430pcm and i currently pay 640pcm to incorporate nursery.

Does anyone know whether it would be worth me contacting cms to get a better deal?

Court has been very expensive and is still ongoing due to dirty tricks and lies so i dont feel i should pay more than necessary and sure that my son does not see the benefit so i would rather have more control on what goes towards him.
Click to expand...
Does mum work or just claim benefits?
 
CMS is independant off any other payments to ex. Unless ex agrees to drop CMS and you agree between yourselves.
 
you dont have to , unless you want to. CMS is the only legal commitment. You can ask ex to take out nursery fees from your CMS, or offer above CMS.
 
Iain4444 said:
Hes 2.5. I honestly dont know atm. I used to pay nursery directly but my ex asked me to pay her directly a couple of months ago so she could control invoicing

she works 3days a week and as far as i know receives benefits which help support this.
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You can get 15 hours free childcare for children from age 2. Then 30 hours free when they are 3. Check the eligibility calculator in the below link to see if you can get the 15 hours free. You mentioned that she’s messing you around in court and I don’t want to be cruel but it’s possible that she is getting the 15 hours free but is asking you for the money so she has extra money. You can check this with the nursery to see if he is getting the free childcare.

My son pays his ex what cms tell him and pays nothing extra, including when the son stays for lunch at nursery as she uses child maintenance for that. But it’s entirely up to you if you pay cms and childcare. The courts and Cafcass aren’t interested in money either so if you don’t pay the nursery fees and cms it’s unlikely to be used against you.

However many nights the child stays with you is deducted from cms payments as well, which is why some mums are reluctant to have 5050 sharers care.

Here’s a number for the DWP childcare funding, they will be able to tell you if there is a free funding claim for your son. 0300 123 4097

Childcare choices

Information targeted at Parents
www.childcarechoices.gov.uk www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
 
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Sounds to me like your ex is getting CMS from you on top of you sending her money for nursery fees which she will most definitely be getting for free. And pocketing that nursery fee money.

I would just stick to CMS payments and nothing else, obviously clothes and toys etc are different. But sending directly just stick to CMS.
 
Just to add, if your ex gets any universal credit then you might find she is getting more than 15 hours free. She might be getting 85% of anything above that too.
 
I would message her and say you can't afford nursery fees as well as CMS and suggest she applies for the 15 or 30 hours free child care she's entitled to. Don't just stop paying it - send a message like that - polite but formal and to the point. And see what she says.

The system has changed since my son was at nursery. Back then (about 16 years ago!), the Government paid most of it (for full time childcare) but it needed a top up of a couple of hundred pounds a month, which my ex blackmailed me into paying.

If your ex is claiming all the benefits and allowed to work a certain number of hours a week as well (is it 16?) then she should be entitled but I think she is the one who would have to claim.

She may well be claiming already and using it to cover "her day" and expect you to pay for "your day"!
 
Unknown01 said:
Just to add, if your ex gets any universal credit then you might find she is getting more than 15 hours free. She might be getting 85% of anything above that too.
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She has told me in the past that she receives universal credit. I believe she works three days, so 22.5 - 34hrs.

Can i ask the nursery what she receives?
 
Ash said:
I would message her and say you can't afford nursery fees as well as CMS and suggest she applies for the 15 or 30 hours free child care she's entitled to. Don't just stop paying it - send a message like that - polite but formal and to the point. And see what she says.

The system has changed since my son was at nursery. Back then (about 16 years ago!), the Government paid most of it (for full time childcare) but it needed a top up of a couple of hundred pounds a month, which my ex blackmailed me into paying.

If your ex is claiming all the benefits and allowed to work a certain number of hours a week as well (is it 16?) then she should be entitled but I think she is the one who would have to claim.

She may well be claiming already and using it to cover "her day" and expect you to pay for "your day"!
Click to expand...
Thanks Ash
 
Iain4444 said:
She has told me in the past that she receives universal credit. I believe she works three days, so 22.5 - 34hrs.

Can i ask the nursery what she receives?
Click to expand...
The nursery might not know but if you can establish what she can claim, then you can stop paying her and tell her to make the claims available to her.
 
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