Child Maintenance/support

You talking about my brother's ex wife. She will be sour/bitter/twister/revengefull till the day she dies.

Or, look at another point of view.
The father built up his career and a successful business while the mother stayed home raising the family.
Father's earning power is enormous. Mother is almost zero. Father lives in a huge house in lonehill, mother can barely afford a place in randburg.
Father buys kids all sorts of treats/toys/etc (but they're not allowed to bring them to mother's place). Father flies them overseas 4x a year, buys them only name brand clothing for use at his house, they eat out often, etc. Mother cannot provide that lifestyle for the kids - except if the father pays her as much maintenance as HE SPENDS on the kids. If he doesn't give that fair amount, the kids are going to prefer dad over mom because he gives them cool stuff... Kids are materialistic these days.
 
The probability of a mother not paying maintenance is higher than a father but I'm in no way defending these #$#@$'ers. It just pisses me off that parents feel that once divorced they no longer need to care for their kids.

Sometimes the opposite is also true. Mr Blu has adult kids from his first marriage and he had to pay maintenance for them until they get married or earn their own incomes. They are all either married or earning salaries now, yet because he has a big heart, he never reduced that amount. Still paying that over to their mother, without even so much as a thank you from that side. She is one of those who tried to punish him using the tool of money, yet she failed to understand that money is the one thing that matters nothing to him!
 
Or, look at another point of view.
The father built up his career and a successful business while the mother stayed home raising the family.
Father's earning power is enormous. Mother is almost zero. Father lives in a huge house in lonehill, mother can barely afford a place in randburg.
Father buys kids all sorts of treats/toys/etc (but they're not allowed to bring them to mother's place). Father flies them overseas 4x a year, buys them only name brand clothing for use at his house, they eat out often, etc. Mother cannot provide that lifestyle for the kids - except if the father pays her as much maintenance as HE SPENDS on the kids. If he doesn't give that fair amount, the kids are going to prefer dad over mom because he gives them cool stuff... Kids are materialistic these days.

Total different story than my brothers. She was a "business" owner (that didn't do anything, wanted $$ but would not work 1 day). She thought she was better than everyone else working. Evil person who couldn't say a nice word about anyone...

I can go on.. but will break the internet with massive text post.

Edit x2: She is evil, she tries to use the kids against him. The divorce was UGLY... because she couldn't accept the stuffed up (she walked out, thought he would come crawling back and he didn't). So she "lost" all her "wealth".. and she doesn't even want to work today. Just sit back and pocket. (She tried to claim R30k/p child support).LOL!! The jugde told her sorry... R3k

Edit: Can I be one kid of the example you gave ? :D
 
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The parent who has custody of the child has additional hidden expenses (for example the need for a bigger house) so I'm not sure that a 50:50 division of the child's expenses is fair either.
That's ***. The other parent is usually the one who'd make the daily calls to his (face it, in most cases its the man) child, or to keep in touch. He's also more like ly to spoil the child when its his weekend, regardless of whatever the maintenance amount is he give the mother. Read below...

Interesting topic, surely this is also based on what was spent in the past? If a family of 3 was earning 60k pm and living a relatively waste free life, public school bla bla, and the child wasn't costing more than 3000pm then would they force one parent to pay R3000-5000 a month?

Why must a divorce increase quality of life?

EDIT:

From the article, I don't get this? So because he is earning more money it would be spent on the children?
Was not going to say this out of embarrasment, but none of you know me :D

My eldest's mother sued me for maintenance a few years ago. Now bear in mind, we were separated and I was living the good life (young, dumb and full of ***). Yes I was an ass, but also because I was involved with someone else.

I was sending her some money, but only when she asked called me.

Fast forward to the actual legal process (this is quite a few years ago, so I might miss some stuff).

When you get the letter from court (can't remember wtf it was called), they tell you you can either bring a legal rep or represent yourself. You also need to bring a copy of your payslip, all your bills and a bank statement. Still with me?

At the maintenance court, you have to sit and wait fcking hours as there's like a million people there for the same thing as yourself. Eventually they call you to hand in your docs.

After another while you and the mother get called into a room and they'll ask her "How much do you want the father to pay" (they do this in your presence). If, based on your income and expenses it is too much, they'll tell her there and then.

Should they see the amount falls within your budget they'll turn around to you and ask you: "Sir, are you happy with this amount". Of course if you still can't afford it you can say so and they'll mediate until they get an amount".

Once you agree, they'll send you to the actual court (the room with the judge and ****t :) ). Here the judge will make it an order of the court.

End of story :)

Before anyone judge me, I kicked the other woman to the curb and today I'm happily married to the same woman who sued me :D
 
My personal view on this..

Women today are more prone to chase a career than they used to be.

Back in the day when a husband and wife were to get divorced, the wife would have had no post school education (university etc. etc.), and as a result the wife would be left in an awkward position.
Her "career" per se was her family, looking after them, doing everything she does for them etc.
As a result, when it comes to divorce in a situation like that - damn straight the women should get a nice chunk of maintenance from the guy - she gave up chasing a career for instead building a family.

Today most women chase careers, so in a situation where both the husband and wife are working class people, I would see it differently.
However, I still reckon that, if the wife has custody of the child, then the husband should have a larger monetary contribution and vice versa.

Can you really put a price tag on what the person does who is raising your child? The emotional support that is given to your child in your absence? The day-to-day stress that is endured as a result of you being a single parent, raising your child, with only a partial emotional influence from the other partner, and a small monetary expense in turn endured by them?
 
One scary thing about this topic is that children can sue for maintenance for when they are 18-21 as most parents only have to pay maintenance until their kids are 18. Also I confirmed this with a divorce lawyers that kids can also sue for any outstanding maintenance not paid to them during this 3yr period.

This is why its important to pay.
 
One scary thing about this topic is that children can sue for maintenance for when they are 18-21 as most parents only have to pay maintenance until their kids are 18. Also I confirmed this with a divorce lawyers that kids can also sue for any outstanding maintenance not paid to them during this 3yr period.

This is why its important to pay.

The obligation is to support the child until they are self-sufficient. There is no age limit.
 
What is wrong with expecting the child's father to pay? I am all for mother's standing on their rights. Too many men doge this responsibility.



:)



Where do you get that figure from ? Sounds excessive.

It's a general figure here, Joburg Northern suburbs, after having spoken to quite a few divorced moms. It could be 4k for the 1st child, & a bit less for each subsequent child. Not really excessive, this is a breakdown of my monthly expenses for my daughter, who is 12 (her dad pays school fees, I pay the rest):

Food (incl. toiletries - I could probably spend less if I made a big effort, but food is pretty expensive nowadays) 3000
Petrol (R2000 pm, estimate one third is probably used transporting her) 667
Life insurance (this is a must, in case I die) 335
Medical Aid (her portion only) 740
Clothing (including school uniforms) 400
Entertainment (includes dance classes) 300
Pocket money (she does some daily chores to earn this) 200
School books (1500 per year) 125
Stationery (1500 per year) 125
Total 5892

I haven't included housing, maid, electricity, water, holidays, as I would probably spend the same amount if I didn't have her. I also haven't included things like birthday & xmas gifts & parties.

Not saying this is what people should be paying, just showing what I pay, in case anyone's interested.
 
Food (incl. toiletries - I could probably spend less if I made a big effort, but food is pretty expensive nowadays) 3000

Not saying this is what people should be paying, just showing what I pay, in case anyone's interested.

Sounds excessive. That is some families' entire grocery budget for the whole family.
 
Sounds excessive. That is some families' entire grocery budget for the whole family.

Would love to know how they manage that! And it's not like we're eating roast lamb & steak every day either, or even once a week. But we do only eat fresh fruit & veggies, not frozen stuff
 
Would love to know how they manage that! And it's not like we're eating roast lamb & steak every day either, or even once a week. But we do only eat fresh fruit & veggies, not frozen stuff

I remember a thread on the forum about how much people spend per month on groceries and that is where the figure came from. Don't know how they do it either.
 
Would love to know how they manage that! And it's not like we're eating roast lamb & steak every day either, or even once a week. But we do only eat fresh fruit & veggies, not frozen stuff
Out of interest I logged onto my Internet Banking to see what we paid at Spar for our groceries last week. For our family of four (two daughters - one is 5 and the other is 2), the bill was R3324. And this includes 1 pack of disposable nappies so its closer to 3k without the nappies.

I don't know what you're eating!
 
Out of interest I logged onto my Internet Banking to see what we paid at Spar for our groceries last week. For our family of four (two daughters - one is 5 and the other is 2), the bill was R3324. And this includes 1 pack of disposable nappies so its closer to 3k without the nappies.

I don't know what you're eating!

Is that for a month's groceries? Does it include meat?
 
The obligation is to support the child until they are self-sufficient. There is no age limit.

Not true. Here is a nice article explaining why: http://www.capetownlawyer.co.za/divorce/maintenance/maintenance-children-over-18.php

"In terms of the new Children’s Act, maintenance is payable until the age of 18 years."
...
"Somebody who is over the age of 18 and is not a student will have to show good cause in a maintenance application against his or her parent as to why he or she should get maintenance"
 
Men get screwed.
I have not missed a single payment in 12 years.
I have seen my daughter ONCE in that time.
There is nothing one can do.
The courts feel f all for fathers
 
Men get screwed.
I have not missed a single payment in 12 years.
I have seen my daughter ONCE in that time.
There is nothing one can do.
The courts feel f all for fathers

No. You have the right to see your child. Why do you not enforce your rights??
 
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