# Child Maintenance & Guardianship/Custody



## John0101

Hello, 
Im getting married next week & my partner has an 8 year old boy,
We are looking for a bit of advice, We bring him down to his dad once a week for a night which has been done for years, Now that we are getting married the father wants a gardianship form signed by my partner (which she has no problem at all signing) if anything happens to my partner the father gets custody of the boy. Are problem is that when she asked for maintence the dad says he cant afford to pay anything, Now he has a full time job & he told my partner years ago that he was paying & it went towards her rent allowence, We find out now that he never actually paid any maintence ever!!, How do we find out how much should he pay?


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## Vanilla

*Re: Child Maintenance*

Guardianship/Custody and maintenance are seperate issues. You should not withhold on one in order to obtain the other.

How much he should pay for maintenance will depend on his own income and outgoings. 

Generally the first step is to ask for maintenance. He will then say whether or how much he is prepared to pay. If your fiancee feels this is enough, that's fine, if not she can go to court and seek more.


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## Thirsty

*Re: Child Maintenance*

You'll find an excellent spreadsheet for calculating maintenance on www.solo.ie, other good sites for lone parents are www.treoir.ie, www.rollercoaster.ie 

Both parents are entitled to claim the additional tax credit for lone parents, this will cease once you marry however. www.revenue.ie

Even when maintenance is agreed, it's a good idea to have it backed by a court order - apply to your local District Court, it's a pretty straight forward process.


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## denver1981

*Re: Child Maintenance*

im from ireland Hi im just wondering I pay 50euro wk for my 16months son,I take him every wkend I buy my own clothes for him and baby stuff,being paying it since started work few months ago, I get paid 350euro a wk,she was happy with this, but she start causeing trouble saying she wants 100 or taking me to court,is 50euro enough she also gets full walfare money and rent allowness,and didnt tell them i pay her maintenances any help please?


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## carrieann

*Re: Child Maintenance*

Denver1981,

100euro is a bit much going on what your wages are, let her take you to court, they will decide how much you. They will not order you to pay more then you cant afford, it will also be taken off her welfare money the amount you pay. So I would encourage you to go to court. If down the road anything happens, weather she stops you seeing the baby or that she has said you haven't paid her at least you have the court behind you. Also I would set up a direct debt that way you have a paper trail of all maintenance paid


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## denver1981

*Re: Child Maintenance*

hi im on the dole now, and im given 50 a week child maintence now, just wonder, should i get more dole money, any help


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## dazza21ie

*Re: Child Maintenance*

Worth checking whether you can claim for your son as a dependent you might get more this way.


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## denver1981

*Re: Child Maintenance*

ya does that work ya i take him at weeksends aswell, how i go by that?


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## Sully1

*Re: Child Maintenance*

Guardianship does not automically mean that he will get custody of the child if your partner dies. Guardianship legalises the relationship between the father and the child (since mothers get it automatically when not married).
Your partner would need to make a will stating her wishes as to what she would like happen in the event of her death.......you would really need to speak to a solicitor about it. The childs father could go to court looking for custody.
In real terms, guardianship just give sthe father a right/say in how the child uis brought up. A solicitor previously advised me that this had little or no implication for me on a day to day basis unless I wanted to move abroad or do something that would put the welfare of my child at risk (ie refuse consent to a life saving medical procedure etc).
My ex did threaten to use his guardianship to stop me sending my daughter to an Irish school.....I told him to go ahead........Shes now attending there, again I was not putting her in any danger etc so he had no leg to stand on (I'm sure he was advised.......)

One thing I was advised and followed, I refused to consent to guardianship until maintance was sorted.......I firmly believed that if he wanted the responsibility of guardianship he could at least pay up some of the costs associated with bringing up a child......judge agreed in court on the day.....


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## csirl

*Re: Child Maintenance*



> Your partner would need to make a will stating her wishes as to what she would like happen in the event of her death.......you would really need to speak to a solicitor about it. The childs father could go to court looking for custody.


 
The reality is that if one parent is deceased and the other seeks custody, they are going to get it (unless extreme circumstances such as history of abusing child etc.).


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## rose10

*Re: Child*

Hi i am just wondering i split with my fiance 9 months ago when i was 4 months pregnant he done some not nice things and made lots of threats which stopped a few months back no he uses that the child is not his he has never seen or made contact she is 4 months now i am with a new partner and he has talked about adopting her what are my rights to proceed seems as her dad wants nothing to do with her?


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