budget for bringing up child

[janetsflower]

I have been separated from my ex for over 10 years now and during all that time he has never paid a penny either via csa or independently towards cost of bringing our son up. Having spoken to a solicitor earlier in week i am advised that under childrens act i can take him to court for a lump sum payment as he is a very wealthy man (�4m in assets), but as he doesn't "work" has managed to evade csa all this time. Solicitor advised however that i need to produce a budget detailing what i have spent on bringing my son up-sounded easy enough til i sat down to do it, so any suggestions please on how i calculate what its cost to feed him, clothe him, keep him in a warm house etc. Do i include all that i have bought him for christmases, birthdays,do i include holidays, afterschool activities and anyhting else i might have missed

[ethanryan]

hi i dont think you can include what you spend on birthdays and christmas's because that is up to you if you spend 10 pound or 100 pound. you have to buy, food clothes, shoes ect ect, if he is a wealthy man i personally would say that 100 pound a month is a nice amount, if he went through the csa he would have to pay alot more. so that would be a lump sum payment of around 12,000. if not look on the csa website. they have a calculator that tells you what u are entitled to, but you need to know his earnings and income.

[annie0000]

Apparantly the average cost of bringing up a child is �250,000 - I would say that �150,000 to age 10 seems reasonable, actually is he is a wealthy man, he would probably be expecting to pay higher than the average cost as you would be a higher than average family so I would say that at that he was getting of lightly.

Remember to factor in loss of earnings/cost of childcare - the costs of clubs he has attented, baby equipment, sports equipment, etc.

Yes I would count holidays and trips and afterschool activities etc. but not presents.

Bear in mind that whatever you ask for will be negotiated lower, so start high.

Bear in mind that whatever you include

[grumpy80]

I think you need to make a note of everything you spend as in food, petrol for school and shopping runs and also any other activities your child partakes in. Do this for a month, add 20% then times it by 12 for the annual spend, then times this by 18. This should give you the lump sum figure he should pay out.