Adam77

There was a thread about this before but a bit dated and the forum is now closed.

I have been paying a lot in child maintenace. I realised it I was to do it based on my potential UK salary for the same job it would be a lot less.

my ex has been using the child maintenace calculator based on the UAE salary.

any advice on what the rules are ?

spouse of scouse

The rules for what?

Pulaski

So you want to know if you can reduce your payments to support your child(ren)?

Nice.

Adam77

thanks for the judgement without knowing the full facts.

If you don’t have any advice please don’t comment

Adam77

Is there any official government agency/portal through which payments are calculated from abroad ?

scrubbedexpat141

The UAE isn't on the REMO list for the UK so, in essence, you don't have to pay anything at all (from what Google tells me).

But from what I've read, it seems that overseas payer calculations are based on income with only some consideration for FX rates / costs.

I'd probably get in touch with the authority that looks after it and talk to them. If your ex knows your UAE salary then why wouldn't then base it on that? If they don't know, I'm sure they'd want some evidence of your actual earnings at some point.

SandyMcSand

Try and base it on base salary only. Strip out accom/transport allowances. Worth a shot.

Adam77

Thanks for your input.

Thats what I read to on google. Just wanted to know if anyone had experience of this.

i do pay and want to continue to pay. But the amount she’s expecting is extortionate. Also, my salary here is temporary as I will returns back to the uk in the next 18 months, so I don’t want set a figure I can’t deal with when I return.

As we are divorced we will lose the marital allowance in my salary, my ex is refusing to bring my child to the uae to get a visa done, where she would get the family allowance.

I will happily contribute to what ever my child needs, but not fund her lifestyle.

Adam77

Thanks for the feedback.

That was a plan I had.

UKMS

The calculator is based on your income not what 'might' be your income if you lived in the UK. You can run the numbers yourself through the calculator as the payer. I get what you say that you dont want to fund your ex wifes lifestyle but it would be the same if you had a promotion and salary jump in the UK, you would pay more and not what you think you should pay. If you feel your money is not being used for your child you can challenge it, but good luck with that !

Adam77

Thanks for your message

From what I understand the UAE doesn’t have a reciprocal agreement. So the CMS can’t do much about enforcement.

UKMS

Of course they (UAE) cant enforce but I suppose that all depends what your aim is ...... you are giving mixed messages ..... You want to pay but you dont want to pay. Once you return to the UK within 18 months (as you mentioned) it then becomes enforcable, might be worth exploring what they can enforce retrospectively, my understanding is that any underpayment can be backdated and enforced so it might be easier to do the right thing now and pay as has been suggested on the calculation of your UAE base salary. If you base a calculation on what you 'might' be earning in the UK you could come unstuck if you didnt actually work in the UK.

christmasoompa

Possibly not, but one would like to think any decent father would pay whatever they deem the appropriate amount. I don't really understand why, if your ex-wife is using the official calculator, you think the amount requested is 'extortionate' or funding her lifestyle in any way? Have you done the calculator yourself and checked that she's giving you the right figure? https://www.gov.uk/calculate-child-maintenance

Most people would agree that the child maintenance amount is generally far less than most parents actually spend on their children, so it would be odd if she had any left over to spend on herself. I've just done it using a £100k salary as an example for one child that lives full-time with one parent, and it came back with £851 a month, which is a tiny amount compared to what most children cost and compared to that salary. It also assumes you'll be paying tax and NI on that salary, and calculates it based on that, but of course you're not paying tax at the moment so that should be quite a good saving for you. So I'm wondering if she's giving you a different figure perhaps?

If you move back to the UK and your income goes down, you can then have it reassessed.

Adam77

I do want to pay, just not the extortionate amount she’s asking for.

i think base salary is the way to go.

christmasoompa

As above, is it the amount on the calculator I gave the link to? If so, it's not extortionate and is absolutely fair. But if it's much more than that, then she's just trying it on and you can tell her you'll pay the amount the calculator comes up with.

I'd understand not including a bonus as that's not guaranteed, but presumably your housing allowance is? So to exclude that seems a bit dodgy at best and possible fraud at worst. You're already earning more than the calculator will have allowed for because of your tax free salary, so can't you count that as a lucky extra and pay whatever the calculator says? That seems like a fair solution to both sides, and (more importantly) to the child/children.