MMaintenance - Child-Specific vs Shared Expenses: Getting Your Maintenance Schedule Right

One of the most common mistakes on maintenance schedules is treating every expense the same way. In reality, there are two distinct types of expenses, and each should be apportioned differently to ensure a fair result.

Shared household expenses

These are costs that benefit everyone living in the household. Think of them as the cost of running the home:

Rent or bond repayments
Groceries and food for the household
Electricity, water, and gas
Internet and Wi-Fi
Domestic worker
Home insurance
Security and armed response
Streaming services (DStv, Netflix)

These expenses are divided by the total household portions. In a household with 2 adults and 3 children (7 total portions), each portion gets an equal share of the cost.

Child-specific expenses

These are costs that only apply to the claimant and their children — not to other adults in the household. Examples include:

School fees — paid specifically for your children
Medical aid — covers you and your children
Aftercare — only your children attend
Extramural activities — horse riding, swimming, music lessons
School clothing and uniforms
Stationery and textbooks

For these expenses, it makes no sense to divide the cost across the entire household. If a new partner lives in the home, they shouldn't reduce the per-child share of school fees they have nothing to do with.

How the calculation differs

Let's use a concrete example. Household: 2 adults, 2 children (total = 6 portions). The claimant is 1 adult + 2 children (included = 4 portions).

Shared expense — Rent R12,000:

Per portion: R12,000 ÷ 6 = R2,000
Your share (2 portions): R4,000
Per child (1 portion): R2,000
Total claimed: R4,000 + (2 × R2,000) = R8,000

Child-specific — School fees R6,000:

Per portion: R6,000 ÷ 4 = R1,500 (only your 4 portions)
Your share (2 portions): R3,000
Per child (1 portion): R1,500
Total claimed: R3,000 + (2 × R1,500) = R6,000

Notice the difference: with shared expenses, the other adult absorbs some of the cost. With child-specific expenses, the full amount stays within your claim. This calculation method aligns with the proper maintenance apportionment formula.

How MMaintenance handles this

In the expense step of the wizard, each line item has a "Child only" checkbox. When ticked, that expense is apportioned using only your claimed portions instead of the full household total.

This gives you a more accurate and legally defensible schedule. Attorneys and maintenance officers will appreciate the distinction — it shows you've thought carefully about which expenses genuinely apply to your children.

Tip: When in doubt, ask yourself: "Would this expense exist if my children weren't in the picture?" If the answer is no, it's child-specific. Keep in mind that some costs, like extraordinary medical or extracurricular expenses, may require special handling in your maintenance schedule.