Hi all,
I separated from my wife some years back, and at the time, I was working overseas earning very good income. We established consent orders and agreement for property settlement, spousal maintenance and child support. These agreements were conditional on my continued role overseas. For our two young children, I covered $950/week in payments, plus private school fees (1 child) and health insurance.
Four years later, I have departed this role due to company transfer outside of my control, and been relocated to another country with significantly less income (monthly take home pay reduced by around 50%). My ex-spouse has worked through this time and established a new career which I am happy for. She recently bought a second house at around $700K. As part of our property settlement I left her with our family home (mortgage free) and shares/assets worth around $300K. So, her and children are financially secure and I am happy for that.
Anyway, since leaving my previous role I struggled to make ends meet with these payments and asked if I could reduce the weekly payment for the children from $950 to $700 per week, while also continuing the health insurance and school fees (around $20K per year). She agreed, but has now started coming back to me seeking repayment of the difference over the last few months (calculating a debt) and wanting to know when I will restart additional payments. I feel pressured by her to do so yet if I pay this extra money I will struggle to make ends meet. Ultimately I want to get in a better financial position to be able to return to Australia and spend more time with my children, but meeting her expectations puts me in a trap.
When I look at the child maintenance calculator I think it shows that the maximum I would pay is about $34K per year for two children's care. This is close to the $700 per week I pay. Is it worth me being proactive and asking for a child support assessment, and then honoring that? Then whatever else I can afford to do for my children is clearly in addition to that?
I want to provide as much as I can for my children but do not want to end up financially crippled trying to meet her expectations? Would being proactive in getting this assessment done help put me on more solid ground and maybe help put some boundaries around her expectations? I will never get ahead and able to get back to Australia for my children if I keep having whatever spare money I have being demanded by their Mother.
Regards
I separated from my wife some years back, and at the time, I was working overseas earning very good income. We established consent orders and agreement for property settlement, spousal maintenance and child support. These agreements were conditional on my continued role overseas. For our two young children, I covered $950/week in payments, plus private school fees (1 child) and health insurance.
Four years later, I have departed this role due to company transfer outside of my control, and been relocated to another country with significantly less income (monthly take home pay reduced by around 50%). My ex-spouse has worked through this time and established a new career which I am happy for. She recently bought a second house at around $700K. As part of our property settlement I left her with our family home (mortgage free) and shares/assets worth around $300K. So, her and children are financially secure and I am happy for that.
Anyway, since leaving my previous role I struggled to make ends meet with these payments and asked if I could reduce the weekly payment for the children from $950 to $700 per week, while also continuing the health insurance and school fees (around $20K per year). She agreed, but has now started coming back to me seeking repayment of the difference over the last few months (calculating a debt) and wanting to know when I will restart additional payments. I feel pressured by her to do so yet if I pay this extra money I will struggle to make ends meet. Ultimately I want to get in a better financial position to be able to return to Australia and spend more time with my children, but meeting her expectations puts me in a trap.
When I look at the child maintenance calculator I think it shows that the maximum I would pay is about $34K per year for two children's care. This is close to the $700 per week I pay. Is it worth me being proactive and asking for a child support assessment, and then honoring that? Then whatever else I can afford to do for my children is clearly in addition to that?
I want to provide as much as I can for my children but do not want to end up financially crippled trying to meet her expectations? Would being proactive in getting this assessment done help put me on more solid ground and maybe help put some boundaries around her expectations? I will never get ahead and able to get back to Australia for my children if I keep having whatever spare money I have being demanded by their Mother.
Regards