www.iva.co.uk

My ex refuses to pay child maintenance for his 3 kids,1 of whom is disabled so we have got into financial difficulty on Friday we had no choice but to enter into an Iva.
The CSA are chasing him and our local MP is now involved , please tell me if maintenance is finally paid will this be taken into account towards our disposable income?

hi sorry to hear of your problems have you taken proffesional advice about an iva or BR?if you get your child maintenance payments sorted yes it would be included

Yes the child maintenance will be taken into account when calculating your disposable income, but this should be countered by the additional allowances you are made for having the children live with you.

Hi Nicky

I work with families where one or more of their children has some form of disability, and statistics show that 85% of such families struggle with debt due to the cost implications of caring for a disabled child, numerous medical appointments preventing a parent to work regularly etc.

Once you are in receipt of payments, you must allow adequate expenditure for all the added costs of caring for your disabled child. I work with families whose lives are very hard. Simple things such as continence problems facilitating bedding being washed and dried every day can be a real headache. One family I know are unable to use public transport as they carry oxygen under the wheelchair, so are forced to use a taxi company with a special license, who charge three times the regular amount.
I don't know your own circumstances, but my experience tells me that the little money you are entitled to rarely covers all your additional expenditure, and I feel really passionately that families where a child has a disability often need much more help and support (practical and financial) than they actually receive.

Good luck with everything

Blue

(Sorry, have climbed down off my soapbox now!)

I agree blue. Two of my children are on disability (one is 18 now)
The oldest, growing up was very distructive and was always destroying things, putting holes in doors and lighting fires in the house.
The youngest is autistic and wets or soils himself when something is bothering him. He is also distructive and extremely challenging (more so outdoors)
The costs involved with kids like these are not always covered by the DLA recieved.

Nicky, make sure you add every cost of the disabled child in the income and expenditure so you are not left short.