Shelby0228

Hello the forum.

I am a US Citizen, my husband is a UK Citizen & US Green Card Holder. When he came to the states two and a half years ago his child maintenance payments were based on his income only but we don't know if that is still the case. We have both done research online (of course) but have found contradictory information.

Does anyone here know if child maintenance payments are now based on both of our incomes?

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience.

excpomea

I went through this several years ago.
We were living back in the UK, myself a Brit, wife a US citizen.
At the time the judge told my wife that she should have known that by marrying me she was liable to help with my child support. Awarded my ex 850 pounds per month. Ex was not working, my wife part time.
She was a 'little' upset.

Move on a few years and were now living in the US. darling wife wants to reduce the maintenance as shes a US citizen living in the US.

Many conference calls later to our UK lawyer and the outcome. I'm still liable for the amount set by the Judge irrespective where I reside. American wife has nothing to do with the amount I have to pay

The nightmare of having to have this all resolved in the courts. All the lawer fees and flights to attend court ect far outweighed the cost of just paying the full amount for another 4 years.

This was a pre CSA case so no dealings via the CSA.

My guess is in your case the amount agreed to back in the UK is the amount your going to have to continue paying.
They could ask for your financial details but I can't see how you would possibly have to supply them. God forbid the CSA make an interim judgment for an increased amount. I assume your dealing with the CSA.

Oh, and welcome. please let us know how it works out. You might be able to help others in a similar situation.

Shelby0228

Thanks for the info, Excpomea.

We're not dealing with the CSA, my husband and his ex have an agreement (her interpretation of which is that if his income goes up, so does the child maintenance, but if his income goes down the maintenance stays the same ). But I don't know what will happen if she decides to take him to court.

I have to say, this is one of the most stressful experiences I have ever had. I don't mind the maintenance, but the constant harassment from the ex is soul destroying. And for the love of god why does she always have to send her nasty, greedy, guilt spear emails on holidays and weekends? It's like she's trying to destroy us.

Okay, sorry for the rant!

And, yes, I will definitely share the outcome, whenever there is one. Right now there's a black cloud hanging over our heads while we wait to see what she's going to pull next.

excpomea

I feel for you. We lived like that for a couple of years.
Well until the youngest reached 18.

Now we just have to cope with the alimony of $300 per month. Well until she remarries or dies..
We live in hope that she remarries soon (Not my wife's desire)

We did look into getting the alimony changed but again, conference calls and advised to leave well alone . It could easily be increased.
Having a couple of UK pensions means she could easily make an attachment to them to obtain the increase.

Also, one note. Alimony payments are tax deductible. So be sure to claim that if your husband is paying alimony.

Shelby0228

Well there's the silver lining, we don't have to pay alimony as she's remarried and employed. So at least there's that!

NatashaB

I assume the child(ren) is/are resident in the UK? When we moved to the US, DSD was resident with us. Her mother moved to the US at the same time we did. She paid child support through the CSA and when she moved she called up the CSA and had them close the case since she was no longer resident in the UK. I believe that technically your husband's ex would have to have the order enforced by REMO if she wanted to get child support him while he lived outside the UK (although of course i don't condone not paying - just saying that she would be unlikely to be able to enforce it in the current situation). The question then is which jurisdiction he falls under - UK CSA calculations or the state in which he lives in - for calculating amounts. Is the agreement a legal one? I would look on the CSA website and calculate what they estimate based on that, and the alllaw.com calculators, to see what they say in terms of amount.

In terms of whether your income would count towards it - basically no. The calculations vary by state if you use the US formulas. But if you have kids together, then whether any of your husband's income is disallowed for the purpose of allotting some of it towards your children together may depend on how much you earn. DH's ex is looking to formalize our child support agreement at the moment and apparently because I earn sufficient money to cover our son's costs, there will be no offset applied for that, despite the child support manual for the state saying that only 85% of his income will be taken into account due to the fact he has another child.

It's tricky when you have two different jurisdictions. It's also tricky when you have a vindictive ex-wife. I know exactly what you mean about the emails, the harassment - we get that too. I sympathize.

LonelyCloud

Natasha is correct, if your husband is no longer a UK taxpayer ring the CSA and they will cancel the payments. That said, you obviously still have an obligation. You now have 2 options, a mutual agreement or if you can't reach one then there is a new agency which has replaced the CSA, basically it works the same but they take a % of the fee to the child and add a % of the fee to the fathers payments. Obviously to discourage people from taking that route.
Your ex can also go to court and gain an order, because the US has signed up to the treaty you will still be required to pay whatever the judge decides.

For me, I went onto the new agencies payment calculator and worked out what I would be paying on my current salary if I was in the UK and deducted the amount for additional children. This is what I offered and it will adjusted as per my family status (It leaves little room for argument)