After getting tired of domestic violence and abuse, I moved out of India 8 years ago with my daughter who was 5 years old that time. Since then I have been single handedly raising my daughter without any financial support from her father. I never asked for any help from him because I knew all I will get is further verbal abuse. I was fine until now as I was doing well financially. But now, post pandemic, I have moved to the UK and am facing financial difficulties due to cost of living and as my daughter is getting older she needs support in her studies and I can’t afford to pay extra tutor fees and other costs to continue the comfortable lifestyle that she enjoyed until now.
I asked her father for money but he refuses saying he doesn’t have any money and if i want him to contribute to daughter’s expenses, we should both come back and stay in India. He even gives us a tough time when I ask for help for my daughter’s speech therapy sessions ( my daughter suffers from anxiety disorder)
I am still legally married but am planning to file for divorce on my next visit. We are both doctors by profession. I want to know 2 things:
1. If I am earning and/ or abroad, am I not entitled to receive any child maintenance ?
2. Can I file for domestic violence in above situation after so many years? Even if I am not staying in the country? I am asking this because I am sick and tired of begging for financial help for my daughter and he still uses emotional abuse tactics to refuse to pay.
Look forward to some guidance. Many thanks
Asked 1 year ago in Family Law
Religion: Hindu
Thank you so much everyone for your responses.
I am feeling much encouraged now and also a bit disappointed that I didn’t know my child’s rights until now, when middle age and stress of working too hard have started to take a toll on my own health. If my child could get the support she deserves, I can think of slowing down on work front a little bit and find time to take care of my health as well as spend more quality time with her.
Thus, this brings me to my next question: how long does this procedure roughly take once initiated and whether my daughter can claim what she has been deprived of in the past 10 years too? Could you kindly advise on this?
I will book a telephone call with one of you very soon for a more elaborate guidance on further steps.
Many thanks again.
Asked 1 year ago