Hi,
I have a child in finland, I have been paying support for many years, it was agreed when our child was very young. Can anyone give me an idea of the typical amount of support that would be paid for a single child is in finland? I currently pay about 340 euros per calendar month.
I saw this thread - viewtopic.php?t=69272
But it is difficult for me to understand what the exact numbers are I need to provide for the calculators.
Child support payments in Finland
Re: Child support payments in Finland
It's basically 3 things: your means, the mother means, and the child needs.
So 1) your means, that's your netto salary minus your expenses like rent/housing (up to a certain threshold), water, insurance, electricity, commuting expenses, and a few others. Not sure how that plays when you're living abroad, documentation and so. It also may include expenses to visit the child, up to a certain threshold, if you live far away. If you are in a relationship that will affect it too, as well as if you have to provide to other children.
2) Mother means is basically the same.
After this the calculator basically establishes your ability to provide, vs that of your ex partner.
3) Child needs are rent (a portion of the mother's living expenses), food and living expenses, school books and materials (particularly in high school), hobbies (that can easily be 100 to 150 a month) and other expenses.
IIRC, in order to get a decision reviewed by the courts (unless the mother agrees to a new agreement at the lasten valvoja, and why would she accept to get less money for the child) you need to make the case that a new decision would change the amount you pay by at least 20% (not sure if this still actual.) That would be 70 eur less.
So 1) your means, that's your netto salary minus your expenses like rent/housing (up to a certain threshold), water, insurance, electricity, commuting expenses, and a few others. Not sure how that plays when you're living abroad, documentation and so. It also may include expenses to visit the child, up to a certain threshold, if you live far away. If you are in a relationship that will affect it too, as well as if you have to provide to other children.
2) Mother means is basically the same.
After this the calculator basically establishes your ability to provide, vs that of your ex partner.
3) Child needs are rent (a portion of the mother's living expenses), food and living expenses, school books and materials (particularly in high school), hobbies (that can easily be 100 to 150 a month) and other expenses.
IIRC, in order to get a decision reviewed by the courts (unless the mother agrees to a new agreement at the lasten valvoja, and why would she accept to get less money for the child) you need to make the case that a new decision would change the amount you pay by at least 20% (not sure if this still actual.) That would be 70 eur less.
Re: Child support payments in Finland
Thank you for the response ajdias.
I expect in reality what I pay now is not a long way from what is appropriate. Though I have this cost as well as all the visitation costs, which from the UK are very significant.
The £300/340 Euro I pay, probably was well too much when my son was younger. My ex lived at home with her mum for 5 years, so there was no rent. So assuming she contributed the same she had 680 euros, plus benefits to spend on a (for example 2 year old). This seems very unlikely, I suspect the reality is I did most of the supporting out son, financially. Though now he is getting older he will get more expensive.
We will likely soon have to go back to court as she is being needlessly obstructive about visitation, so probably I will ask that she starts contributing to visitation costs. She has previously told me 'this is the mans responsibility'. But I do not see why this should be the case, I expect she earns as much as me, possibly more.
Anyway, I was just curious - thank you again for the insight.
If anyone has any personal experience / specific figures of what might be appropriate relative to earnings, I'd be interested.
I expect in reality what I pay now is not a long way from what is appropriate. Though I have this cost as well as all the visitation costs, which from the UK are very significant.
The £300/340 Euro I pay, probably was well too much when my son was younger. My ex lived at home with her mum for 5 years, so there was no rent. So assuming she contributed the same she had 680 euros, plus benefits to spend on a (for example 2 year old). This seems very unlikely, I suspect the reality is I did most of the supporting out son, financially. Though now he is getting older he will get more expensive.
We will likely soon have to go back to court as she is being needlessly obstructive about visitation, so probably I will ask that she starts contributing to visitation costs. She has previously told me 'this is the mans responsibility'. But I do not see why this should be the case, I expect she earns as much as me, possibly more.
Anyway, I was just curious - thank you again for the insight.
If anyone has any personal experience / specific figures of what might be appropriate relative to earnings, I'd be interested.
Re: Child support payments in Finland
Yes. As far as I reckon there's a cap on such costs, don't know how much.
This is just you assuming. You may be right, but it is also possible she was paying rent to the mother, sharing some of the expenses.The £300/340 Euro I pay, probably was well too much when my son was younger. My ex lived at home with her mum for 5 years, so there was no rent.
Not related to your case, AFAIK, but these contracts can also be created/changed if one wanted to inflate the expenses and thus get a better deal. Eg, a mortgage payment increased.
Take an experienced lawyer and have him or her go through the calculation. There's a few expenditures that one can miss, underestimate, others the other partner may inflate. Expect the needs of the child to be somewhere between 650/800 a month (including the kids portion of the rent, the hobbies, etc. ), even more.We will likely soon have to go back to court as she is being needlessly obstructive about visitation, so probably I will ask that she starts contributing to visitation costs. She has previously told me 'this is the mans responsibility'. But I do not see why this should be the case, I expect she earns as much as me, possibly more.
Re: Child support payments in Finland
Yes, I am assuming, but I know my ex(contributed little when she lived with me) and I know her mother is very wealthy. There is good reason to expect she payed no rent and probably didn't even contribute on food or anything else.
It's interesting to hear about a possible cap.. do you mean by that there is a limit as a portion of income that any individual would be expected to pay?
Agreed @ lawyer, the difficulty is actually knowing which are best.. you can judge a certain amount by their knowledge, but hard to be sure until they actually get you the result or don't as the case may be.
Based on what I pay now(340 euro) which has also reduced significantly due to the £ weakening vs the euro.. doubled that is 680, plus child benefit payments.. I assume a couple of hundred in finland.. that means our son should be getting more than your 650-800 estimate. However I do appreciate it's just an estimate. Even while paying this my ex has asked me separately to contribute to other costs(probably in the hobbies category), sometimes I have, sometimes not.
Anyway, thank you again for the reply, it's great to get the benefit of you insight.
It's interesting to hear about a possible cap.. do you mean by that there is a limit as a portion of income that any individual would be expected to pay?
Agreed @ lawyer, the difficulty is actually knowing which are best.. you can judge a certain amount by their knowledge, but hard to be sure until they actually get you the result or don't as the case may be.
Based on what I pay now(340 euro) which has also reduced significantly due to the £ weakening vs the euro.. doubled that is 680, plus child benefit payments.. I assume a couple of hundred in finland.. that means our son should be getting more than your 650-800 estimate. However I do appreciate it's just an estimate. Even while paying this my ex has asked me separately to contribute to other costs(probably in the hobbies category), sometimes I have, sometimes not.
Anyway, thank you again for the reply, it's great to get the benefit of you insight.