Getting Divorced question
Q. MY ex-wife and I divorced before our third wedding anniversary. We have a child who will be five years old in April. At the time of the court settlement for maintenance, I had re-married and had a new child. The court ordered that I pay £400 per month in child maintenance to my ex-wife. Since then, she has re-married, and I have just had a second child with my current wife. Would there be grounds to go back to court to reduce the child maintenance I have been ordered to pay to my ex?
Kathleen Goddard replies:
You don’t seem to have applied for the maintenance to be reduced when your ex-wife re-married, though her re-marriage in itself would probably not be sufficient to apply for a reduction. You have effectively ruled it out by not asking for it at the time.
But the birth of your second child is in a different category. If that imposes upon you new financial burdens which you will find it difficult to meet because of your continuing obligation to your first child, a judge might feel that a small reduction would be in order.
But it will depend on the precise details of your present situation and of your ex-wife. I certainly think it would be worth consulting a solicitor and seeing what he or she has to say.