Q&A - Furlough pay is not enough to keep up maintenance payments what happens if I just pay less?

Q:  I am really struggling to make ends meet as my furlough pay during the COVID crisis is nowhere near my usual salary. I tried to talk to my ex about paying less maintenance for the kids until the situation eases but she refused to discuss it. What would happen if I just paid less into her bank account?

A:  If you have been furloughed, you still need to pay child maintenance for the benefit of your children and the arrangements in place should continue as normal, unless you can agree to vary the arrangements.

If the Child Maintenance Service is involved you may wish to contact them as, depending on your circumstances, the scheme allows for some flexibility depending on the extent of your salary reduction. If there is a court order for maintenance and your ex refuses to agree to you paying less due to your circumstances, you would need to apply to the court for a downward variation. Simply paying less without agreement from your ex or the court will put you in breach of the order. Try pointing out to your ex that if you apply for a downward variation the court may well permit it due to the unusual circumstances the coronavirus situation has created (although the Courts are overstretched and maintenance cases do not appear to be considered a priority so there may be a delay).

Your best way forward would be to try and negotiate a temporary reduction in maintenance payments whilst the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. You may wish to generate an email or even a text exchange so that you have a physical record confirming the agreement with your ex, so demonstrating that you have both entered into the agreement freely without any undue influence. It may be worth your while in the first instance to seek the help of a solicitor.

Article 07/09/2020

This question has been answered by Nathan Wright, a Partner with GHP Legal.  If you would like to speak to someone about this or any other legal matter it is still possible and we are doing everything we can to ensure that we continue to offer our high levels of service to our clients.  In accordance with government guidelines, some of our lawyers are currently working remotely which means you may not now receive a response as promptly as you may expect. Please kindly bear with us and we will respond as soon as we are able.

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Alison Peters

Alison Peters

Partner

A Partner in our Family and Matrimonial department in Oswestry

Nathan Wright, Partner at GHP Legal

Nathan Wright

Partner

A Partner specialising in Family and Matrimonial Law in Wrexham