Hi all.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I live in England.

I’m posting this here aswell as the bot from R/legaladvice advised me to do so :)

My ex wife and I split up in July 18 after nearly 6 years together. We have a 6 year old (J) and a 2 year old (C) together.

We are now legally divorced and our finances and custody arrangement was resolved outside of the courts and we have not needed to go to mediation to agree on either of these parts, so nothing is in writing.

I have my daughters 3 nights every week. They’re my responsibility from 12.30 on the Tuesday until 12.30 on the Thursday and then I have them from 10.00 Saturday until 14.00 Sunday. The handover with C midweek is done via nursery which she has just started attending. There are no costs to sending C to nursery as it’s free hours paid for by the government. J is in her third year of Primary School. My ex wife and I only see each other at the hand overs on the weekend.

I earn £17000 a year before tax.

I pay £30 every Friday to her as that is the amount that the Gov.UK website says it should be.

My question is; do I really need to pay her that? I have them just as much as she does, and I have the same bills and need to cloth them etc. They’re the same financial burden (horrible way to put it) to me as they are to her. It’s as 50/50 as it could be. Is it worth seeking legal advice and challenging what I pay in court?

I’m getting really fed up of struggling financially since the divorce and it seems unfair that I struggle so much whilst paying her for the same right that I have.

I was brought up in a similar situation with one large difference. My mother and father divorced when I was 1 and he didn’t have any custody over me at all. He paid £30 a week starting 1989 until 2015. We moved away from the area in 1994 and I slept at his house maybe once every 2 years. I know this situation is different it just confuses me even more.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this, all your feedback is greatly appreciated.