Hi
I wanted to get an idea of what maintenance people are receiving from their exes.
Is R2300 for a 4 year reasonable from a salary of R12 000 (net, after tax etc). I earn more than my ex.
Tks

I can't help much I'm afraid- my son is six and his dad has been giving me R1000 a month for two years now.
I am going to be taking it to court soon though so if I learn anything more about what is legally expected I'll let you know!

Considering that you're earning more than your ex I'd say you're doing extremely well.

Maintenance is supposed to be 50/50. So if he/she's paying R2500pm, you should also be contributing R2500pm.
How this will be determined by a court of law is to take all the expenditures and break them down into 2 or
whatever the relation. School fees, aftercare, clothes, medical and the like will be divided by 2.
Other things such as rent, groceries, electricity will be divided by the number of occupents and the payees
responsibility will be half of that.
To make it clearer, if you and your baby are renting a R5 000pm flat with 3 other persons (5 in total),
the R5 000 will be divided by 5 (=R1 000 per person), so the payees responsibility will be R500 (R1000 / 2).

I usually hear guys paying +20% of their net income on child maintenance. Rule#1: Never pay more than 20% of you net income on maintenance, I don't care if you have 6 children. If you have more than 2 then they should all share on that 20%.

Budget Rule:
- 20 % Child Maintenance
- 40 % Paying your monthly expenses
- 30 % Savings/Investment/Insurances
- 10 % Family Entertainment and Annual Expedition.

Hi,I think you are getting too much money.Do you want to tell me that the monthly cost of your child is R4 600.00 ? How did you get it right to trick your ex who is earning so little after tax? I pay R450.00 for my 11 year old.

That is unreasonably high...does a 4yr old really need that much. Remember, it 50/50 which means you're also contributing just as much? I doubt...I am sure your paying bills with that money.

50/50 is fair. But be fair, and be thankful if you get any money.

Its sickening fact that when fathers leave their kids with ex-wives, the long knives come out, and the hatred he has for her is enacted on the children by refusing to pay, or paying too little maintenance to create a harder life for her.

I am a stepfather to 2 children, 11 and 9 years old - and thier father pays R1200 for BOTH of them per month, out of a salary that after tax is between R13-R16k per month. Luckily I am able to make sure that money is'nt an issue for my wife, and our family.

I do have sympathy for mothers who are divorced and fathers who try and screw the system to pay as little as possible.

According to Child Welfare/Child Advocates Office, the basic calculation is this:

Cost of Child * (Non-Custodial Parent Income / Combined Parent Income)

So, if a child costs R5600 per month, and the child is living with the mother and the father earns R12000 after tax and the Mother R6000 per month, then the calculation is:

R5600 * (R12000/R18000) = R5600 * 0.66 = R3733.33 per month

This is because the father earns almost double what the mother earns, and thus contributes more to the childs costs on a pro-rata basis.

Most non-custodial parents will buy expensive cars and rent/buy larger houses to try and show that thier costs exceed their means to pay an adequate amount. This runs both ways and their are many fathers out there who are also under this kind of duress from resentful ex-wives.

The only ones who suffer in the end are the children.

So how much is your ex paying. My advise to you would be that you take over all the child expenses eg school fees,food and clothing. Your ex can cover the rent. I think that will be fair enough.