# Advice Needed on What to do about maintenance payments now that hubby got paycut?



## heretohelp (15 Mar 2009)

Hi all,
Advice badly needed . Hubby just took a pay cut from 340 a week to 210. He pay maintenance of 100 euro weekly. We have two children together and one due shortly and need to know how we can sort out the maintenance issue as a matter of urgency, it will take a month or more to get into court to reduce it , but when he lost a job over a year ago he was on the dole and paid 50 euro per week until his ex took him to court and the judge ordered him to be locked up in one hour if he didnt hand over the cash owed.
 We are terrified of this happening again. He cant get the dole as he hasnt lost his job, and is still part time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you


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## Cashstrapped (15 Mar 2009)

*Re: Advise Needed on What to do about maintenance payments now that hubby got paycut?*



heretohelp said:


> Hi all,
> Advice badly needed . Hubby just took a pay cut from 340 a week to 210. He pay maintenance of 100 euro weekly. We have two children together and one due shortly and need to know how we can sort out the maintenance issue as a matter of urgency, it will take a month or more to get into court to reduce it , but when he lost a job over a year ago he was on the dole and paid 50 euro per week until his ex took him to court and the judge ordered him to be locked up in one hour if he didnt hand over the cash owed.
> We are terrified of this happening again. He cant get the dole as he hasnt lost his job, and is still part time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you



If you have not already applied to the Courts for a variance order then I would do that first, whether it takes a month or not it will mean that you will get it sorted out at that stage.  The courts as you are probably well aware will take into account both sets of income and expenditure and decide accordingly.

In the meantime if it is a real struggle have you looked at getting Family Income Supplement and or Mortgage Interest Supplement (if you qualify), and also Job Seekers Benefit for the days he is not working?


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## heretohelp (15 Mar 2009)

*Re: Advise Needed on What to do about maintenance payments now that hubby got paycut?*

Thanks for the reply, his ex had already applied to take him back to court for more money so its going to happen in a month or so. As she has applied does that mean the judge could award her more money ? She is currently working and earning approx 1000k weekly taking in account other income


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## Cashstrapped (15 Mar 2009)

*Re: Advise Needed on What to do about maintenance payments now that hubby got paycut?*



heretohelp said:


> Thanks for the reply, his ex had already applied to take him back to court for more money so its going to happen in a month or so. As she has applied does that mean the judge could award her more money ? She is currently working and earning approx 1000k weekly taking in account other income



It's hard to call, but realistically your husband has to maintain all of his children equally given his income, I think alot depends on the judge.  Once your husband has been keeping within his maintenance payments he should be ok, I would be surprised if the judge increased it given the circumstances you have outlined.  Has he got a court date if not I would get your husband to apply for a variation under his own name, she could be talking about it but not doing anything about it if you know what I mean.


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## tobo (15 Mar 2009)

I largely agree with 'cashstrapped', however, if you have not yet been served with a notice of her application to seek a variation in maintenance then I would suggest you immediately serve your own through the relevant district court office, or through your solicitor.  It does no harm if both of you have an application in on the same day and it shows that you were taking active steps yourself to deal with the change in financial circumstances.

Also, you or your solicitor should now write to the other party or her solicitor, if she has one, in order to explain the difficult situation you now find yourself in and to see if there is any scope to reach agreement on the issue so that a consent order could be granted by the court on the day of the maintenance hearing.


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## heretohelp (25 Mar 2009)

Hubby in court today , maintenance not reduced, hubby applied to go back in a months time to get it varied. Dont know how we will cope for a month though.


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## Sully1 (27 Mar 2009)

I'm going to add another view here........
I'm a single parent receiving maintenance from my ex and if he tried to reduce his payments I would object and I will explain why..
I have just taken a 10% pay cut but my costs have remained the same i.e creche fees of nearly 1000 euro a month, increase in health insurance premiums and my outgoings regarding our child have remained the same and will increase over the coming months given that she is about to start school....I have had to pay a deposit to retain her place in school (and its a public school before anyone asks), will have to pay for her school books, pay for her uniform next month and I have no idea where the money will come from. I rely on the maintence to make ends meet and I couldn't imagine it being reduced as I have no idea how I could make ends meet on less income.

I do sympathise with the op but the costs of raising a child have not decreased (where deflation is coming from is beyone me, my monthly outgoings have not reduced......only my income:-( )


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## chrisboy (27 Mar 2009)

Sully1 said:


> I'm going to add another view here........
> I'm a single parent receiving maintenance from my ex and if he tried to reduce his payments I would object and I will explain why..
> I have just taken a 10% pay cut but my costs have remained the same i.e creche fees of nearly 1000 euro a month, increase in health insurance premiums and my outgoings regarding our child have remained the same and will increase over the coming months given that she is about to start school....I have had to pay a deposit to retain her place in school (and its a public school before anyone asks), will have to pay for her school books, pay for her uniform next month and I have no idea where the money will come from. I rely on the maintence to make ends meet and I couldn't imagine it being reduced as I have no idea how I could make ends meet on less income.
> 
> I do sympathise with the op but the costs of raising a child have not decreased (where deflation is coming from is beyone me, my monthly outgoings have not reduced......only my income:-( )




Your creche fees will come down when your child goes to school, but if he doesnt have the money how can he give it to you? You cant get blood from a stone and i know a lot of people who are getting their payments reduced because they cant afford to pay..


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## Sully1 (27 Mar 2009)

Yes my creche fees will drop when she starts school but at the end of the day, no matter how much my income falls over the coming months, I will still have to make ends meet and can not turn around to my daughter and say sorry dear, mammy has no money so there is no food in the press or sorry mammy has no money, you'll have to wear the clothes and shoes that are too small for you.
At the end of the day, I have a child and I will make any sacrifice to make sure she has a roof over her head, is fed and has clothes to wear and make sure her basic material needs (clothes, shoes etc etc) and health related costs are looked after. I would not dream of not providing for her and essentially by reducing maintenace that is what a parent is doing. The cost of living is not reducing by that much so that could I agree to a cut in maintenance. Maintenance is there to provide for the child, in theory it is supposed to pay for half the cost of raising a child. 

As I said already I am providing another point of view trying to explain to the original poster why the other parent is not agreeing to the reduction in maintenance.


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## chrisboy (27 Mar 2009)

Yes but the op's husband earn 210 aweek and is expected to pay 100 a week maintainance! If it was me the mother would be taking a reduction in money.


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## Sully1 (27 Mar 2009)

You'll find its the judge who will decide whether there is a reduction next month at the earliest. Neither you or I will decide.


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## chrisboy (27 Mar 2009)

I think its fair to say the judge will reduce it. He earns 210 euro per week. His ex earns 1000 per week.. Safe to say the man will get the judgement this time.


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## Sully1 (27 Mar 2009)

Who knows, another way to try and reduce the maintenance is if the ops partner can take his child an extra day or two a week, and this then will/could reduce child care costs which could then reduce maintenance costs......
not sure if this is even feasible for the op but it might go some way to showing the judge on the day that they are trying to live up to the responsibility of being a parent and while not being in a financial position to pay for his child, he is prepared to step up to the mark in other ways....this too may be acceptable to his ex.
Given that his wages are down to 210 a week, they should also look into applying for family income suppliement and so on, afaik there is a huge backlog for this supplement but it will be backdated to the date of application.


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## heretohelp (27 Mar 2009)

Sully1 said:


> Who knows, another way to try and reduce the maintenance is if the ops partner can take his child an extra day or two a week, and this then will/could reduce child care costs which could then reduce maintenance costs......
> not sure if this is even feasible for the op but it might go some way to showing the judge on the day that they are trying to live up to the responsibility of being a parent and while not being in a financial position to pay for his child, he is prepared to step up to the mark in other ways....this too may be acceptable to his ex.
> Given that his wages are down to 210 a week, they should also look into applying for family income suppliement and so on, afaik there is a huge backlog for this supplement but it will be backdated to the date of application.


 Hi there, 
His ex doesnt have childcare costs, children minded by their granny. Cant get family income supplement as his hours are  16 hours a week. Her outgoings are  car, and holidays , that is what she had on her statement of means. Meanwhile we have a severely disabled child who missed a very important hospital app today as we couldnt afford to get her there . My tuppence


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## Sully1 (27 Mar 2009)

I am not out to judge you as I am well aware that there are two sides to every story and that every case (esp where family law is concerned) is different. I wasn't trying to have a go at you, I was throwing in my two pence worth based on the info you provided in your original post.

The issue of maintenance is a fraught one and everyone has an opinion on it. Me being the receipient of maintenance and having had to go to court to get what I viewed as a fair amount has one view, and, you and your husband being the payer of maintenance have another view entirely.
Unfortunately all you can do is keep paying it until the next date in court, I'm afraid to say and from the sounds of it, your husband does not appear to have a good 'relationship' with his ex so the direct approach will not work.

I hope I am not speaking out of turn here but how does the actual court date go for your hubby? Is he representing himself? If he is, does he keep cool and come across well to the judge or can he loose the head at times? Or is he very quiet and does not/can not speak up for himself?
Quite often the way you come across in court can have a major bearing on the outcome of a court case.
I'm a vetern of the court system (and not family I am glad to say) in and out and a near daily basis for years and everyday I would see someone representing themselves who made a complete mess of it and the outcome was a disaster for them.....by that I mean some people lost the plot and started shouting at the judge or prosecution, rolling their eyes etc or they just did not stand up for themselves and did not put their point across at all.....
prehaps this is where some of the problem may be?? (Just trying to offer help here to improve your situation in the future....)


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## heretohelp (27 Mar 2009)

Sully1 said:


> I am not out to judge you as I am well aware that there are two sides to every story and that every case (esp where family law is concerned) is different. I wasn't trying to have a go at you, I was throwing in my two pence worth based on the info you provided in your original post.
> 
> The issue of maintenance is a fraught one and everyone has an opinion on it. Me being the receipient of maintenance and having had to go to court to get what I viewed as a fair amount has one view, and, you and your husband being the payer of maintenance have another view entirely.
> Unfortunately all you can do is keep paying it until the next date in court, I'm afraid to say and from the sounds of it, your husband does not appear to have a good 'relationship' with his ex so the direct approach will not work.
> ...


 Thanks for the reply, he is the wuiet type, afraid to open his mouth or try get his point across, speaks when spoken to thats all, the children come two  weekends a month and more when she permits it , we ask fro more access but she refuses if sh is having a bad day. We buy clothes etc ,she sends nothing up. Hubby has as solicitor, a good one at that represeting him who seems to do a good jub although couldnt convince judge to reduce it this time


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## Dazzles (27 Mar 2009)

Can I just add something at this stage. Sully1 you have listed very good reasons for not agreeing to cutting maintenance but if you had read the op correctly there are two other children involved in this and another one on the way. Can you tell me what will feed them? What did they do to deserve this? If dad is to provide equally for all children then something is not adding up here....do you agree? Times are hard. The fact that this man has tried, when able, to pay maintenance as best he could (wages E360 and paying E100 - ????) shows that he is not one of these dads who has not face up to his responsibilities. No one wants to see any child suffer nor does any parent want to have to tell a child that they can't afford to put food on the table but to be honest the only ones that appear to be at risk of this treadful scenario is heretohelp, her partner and their children.

For years now dads have been pulled into court and told pay this and pay that....and rightly so. But I am sick to the teeth of hearing stories of the so called "second family" being pushed to the breadline so that these payments can be met. If the "first family" were still a unit and dad lost his job or was forced to take a pay cut then cut-backs would have to be made in that household, as many households are facing these days, simple as. As I said no one wants to see a child suffer. Any child.

Heretohelp.....my heart broke when I read about your little girl. It is a disgrace that your child is made suffer like this. What the hell is going on in this country? Try and look after yourself.....you sound broken. I think it is time you got some outside help - SVP or the likes. Stay positive,x.

(sorry for the first/second family thing - don't know how else to explain!)


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## sandrat (28 Mar 2009)

Good suggestion was to call the SVP and see if they can help.

edit: is he working everyday for the 16 hours a week? If he only works certain days then he can claim sw for they days he doesnt work but if he works a few hours every day he can't, can he arrange his hours?


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## heretohelp (28 Mar 2009)

Hi sandrat 
thanks for the reply, he originally worked a 7 day week for 700 euro, his ex then received 150 euro from him in maintenance, his hours were cut 5 months ago and he earned between 340 and 360 a week. He then had to pay her 100 euro a week. this is his second pay cut and now he earns 210. 
The problem with his work is that it is seasonal and the recession has affected it badly as people no longer require the service his boss provides. 
Or can no longer afford it. His hours are scattered over 7 days now , an hour here of there or one full day 3 half days , there isnt a set day that he will be working, so he cant claim the dole .


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## Sully1 (28 Mar 2009)

Would your husbands employer try to assist your husband by giving him a letter saying his he only required to work certain hours/days and then leave him with the option of getting social welfare to cover the reduced hours? That might see you through to the next court date....
Also re your child getting to hospital, could the community welfare officer help with those costs? Its just another option....


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## kim (13 Aug 2009)

here here Dazzles could'nt have put it better myself


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