My eldest has just gone into 6th form,we have lost money that we were given for her.I can't understand it.
If your daughter is still in education you are still entitled to child benefit and child tax credits (if eligible) for her, you need to make sure they know she's still at school.
when my daughter turned 16 they told me her payments would stop unless she was still in school, I dutifully told them she was staying on, they said the payments would stop on the system and be resumed almost instantly and my payments wouldn't be affected. Then the letter came and it showed a drop of £200 from the end of the school year - I wouldn't mind if I actually got £200 per child in the first place!!!
I rang them, they told me not to worry it was all down to "they system" and my payments would definitely stay the same, a new letter would follow shortly. No new letter, I rang again, again not to worry, more blaming the system, payments definitely not going.
Next payment -£200 less. They were recalculated from the following month, and technically I still receive the same amount over the year but it doesn't help that I was £200 short.
The whole "system" is a joke.
Therein ends my own rant.
As to the op, if you have joint custody then surely you shouldn't pay so much in maintenance, after all you're footing half the bill when your daughter is with you, surely?
I would check with your solicitor, or whoever acted on your behalf when you came to the arrangement.
As for the tax credits, they can only be paid to one parent - the mother in this case. If you feel this is unfair you need to contact them to see if there is a different arrangement for parents with shared custody.