# What is a realistic maintenance figure per week for one child?



## Daragh300 (18 Dec 2006)

My partner's ex is only paying her maintenance of €25 per week.
I am more than willing to help my partner financially as we have another child together also but she is striving to ensure her ex is not shirking his responsibilities. 
He keeps saying that she receives adequate benefits from the Government like the Child Benefit, Early Childcare supplement and allowances like back to school but I'm sure anyone with kids will know that these payments do not go far at all when there are bills to be paid.
I am pushing her to pursue him through the courts but she is very nervous that she will come away with less but I keep trying to tell her since he is self employed, has a people working for him and lives with his parents I'm sure he could look afford more than €25 per week.


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## sammieh (18 Dec 2006)

Hiya, i am currantly getting €60 per week from the father of my child. He gives a bit towards xmas if he feels up to it, and as for her with school cost he gave €200 for her first year and nothing for the second! 

Hope that gives you some sort of idea!


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## ClubMan (18 Dec 2006)

I'm not sure that other peoples' examples will mean much since presumably a lot depends on the father's means/income?

She probably needs to talk to a solicitor who specialises in family law. 

Anything useful on _Citizens Information_ (neé _OASIS_):

[broken link removed]


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## Vanilla (18 Dec 2006)

ClubMan is right- it absolutely depends on the fathers income and expenditure. However as a rule of thumb generally maintenance payments where the father can afford it are averaging at between 50 to 70 per week at present.


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## Thirsty (18 Dec 2006)

Maintenance is based on both parents expenditure and income, not just the fathers.

Check out www.solo.ie , you'll find a good spread sheet on how to calculate maintenance.


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## SlurrySlump (18 Dec 2006)

I am close to a situation where the father pays for all the food/clothes/schooling plus costs associated/prams/buggies/bought a car for the mother, car seat etc/spent money upgrading her house. He pays her €25 per week.
She claims social welfare/works part time in the black economy/gets unmarried mothers allowance but lives with a new partner/keeps all children's allowances payments.


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## Daragh300 (18 Dec 2006)

I think we can safely say that a paltry €25 a week just doesn't cut it. We'll try the courts for sure and see how we get on. Thanks very much for all your responses.


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## buckrodgers (18 Dec 2006)

You need to be careful going down the court route especially if things are relatively amicable between you all. A friend of mine only pays €6 per week for his child after his ex took him to court. It is based on what he is deemed to afford. If someone is self employed they may not have a very good income on paper. In a lot of cases they only pay themselves the bare minimum and put the rest back into the business. Another thing to think about is the emotional side of it. After my friend and his ex went down the court route everthing became a battle. They even had to go to court to decide who has the child for Christmas. They are in and out of court all the time arguing over custody. It is the child that loses out.


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## SlurrySlump (20 Dec 2006)

Daragh300 said:


> I think we can safely say that a paltry €25 a week just doesn't cut. We'll try the courts for sure and see how we get on. Thanks very much for all your responses.


 
Who will be having the child for Christmas?  You or the father?


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## Daragh300 (20 Dec 2006)

SlurrySlump said:


> Who will be having the child for Christmas? You or the father?


 
We have left it up to the child to decide, she would rather spend it with us as she feels happier in my house. This has been the same for other occasions like birthdays in the past.


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## mo3art (20 Dec 2006)

The recommended minimum amount is €75 and the maximum recommended is €150 per week in the District Court.
A realistic figure is a "how long is a piece of string" question because €25 might be considered a realistic figure if the person in question cannot afford to contribute anymore.
Have you checked out www.rollercoaster.ie?  There is a decent single parents board there and you might get some information from that.


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## Thirsty (28 Dec 2006)

€150 is not the "maximum recommended ".  

It is the maximum that can be claimed per week, per child in the district court; higher figures can be claimed and awarded in the circuit court.


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## mo3art (28 Dec 2006)

Whoops sorry about that Kildrought, i didn't realise there was a physical limit on the upper end that could be awarded in the District Court!


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## MOB (29 Dec 2006)

".........We have left it up to the child to decide."

I am sorry to butt in on a slight tangent but this has a slight flavour of cop-out.  Does the child decide what time she has to come in from playing? what time she has to go to bed?    It may be that the child is well into her teens, in which case I would concede that the criticism is a very mild one, but I would not concede the general principle, which is that children are not the best judges of what is best for them.


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## Thirsty (31 Dec 2006)

Whilst it does depend on the child's age MOB; in the case where parents are separated, it is not unreasonable to take their wishes into account.  

Bear in mind that from a child's perspective (and for many adults too) this is pretty much the worst thing that could have happened to them; they often feel powerless and empowering them to help make decisions about what is going to happen can only be good.


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