Child Maintenance

This guide looks at the way in which child maintenance payments are handled and explains how CMS/CSA decides on how much maintenance you will need to pay.

Child Maintenance

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What is Child Maintenance?

Child maintenance payments are frequent payments to the resident parent by the non resident parent to assist with the maintenance of the child.  The resident parent is the parent with whom the child lives with for the majority of the time whilst the non resident parent may have overnight contact with the child but for fewer nights than the child is at the other parent’s home.

In order to ensure that these payments are made reguarly and on time, the parents must come to an agreemant.  This is called a maintenance agreement.  Your payments may be managed by the Child support agency for claims that were initiated before 2012, but after this time, it will be the chils maintenance scheme.  CMS require a fee of £20 for anyone applying to initiate child support payments.

Maintenance Agreements

You could come up with a maintenance agreement with your ex partner.  This is an agreement that is made out of court and you can put it into writing once you have decided on the amount that will be paid.  This is great in principle as it will encourage you and your ex to communicate constructively as well as keepig the matter out of the court room, but there are times where it won’t work.  If circumstances between the two of you change, for example if you begin to earn more or less or if the non resident parent has more overnight contacts than when the agreement was made then this can lead to disagreements.  Non payment of maintenance can also become a costly problem as these agreements must be resolved in a civil court.  As well as being expensive to resolve these disputes, it can also take a long time.



How Much Child Maintenance Should I Pay?

Income

Your income is taken into account before tax and national insurance contributions have been deducted.  This is known as your gross income.  If you ar slef employed, the amount you will need to pay is calculated using your taxable profits.

If you apply to the CMS to calculate the payments made then they will calculate the amount that will need to be paid.  If you would prefer, you can also come up with an agreement of your own with the other parent.  If you are unable to agree then you should use the CMS guidelines.

It should be noted that there are some circumstances where the normal rules for calculating the amount of maintenance to be paid will not apply.

Exemptions or Deductions

If you fall into one or more of the following categories, you may not have to pay any or to pay a reduced rate of child maintenance:

  • If your gross weekly income is below £7
  • If you are in prison
  • If you are less than 16 years old
  • If you are enrolled in certain government approved training and are aged between 16 and 19 years old
  • If you are in full time further education and aged between 16 and 19 years old
  • if  you receive income support or certain other means tested benefits and ages between 16 and 17 years old
  • If you are part of someone elses claim for one of the aforementioned benefits and ages between 16 and 17 years old
  • If you receive help with fees for a care home or hospital where you currently reside

Shared Parenting

Some people are entitled to a reduction in their payments if they have their children overnight.  This must be at least 1 night per week on average and often, the CMS will ask for a copy of a court order to prove this.

Some parents have a 50/50 care arrangement.  If you share care of your children equally with the other parent then neither parent will pay maintenance to the other.

The reduction in payments is usually worked out by reducing the payment by one seventh per night.

Children From A New Relationship

If you have children in a new relationship, you should let the CMS know immediately.  If the children are financially dependant on you then it is possible that your existing maintenance payments may be affected.



Final Payments

You should expect to pay child maintenance until the child is 16 years old.  If the child continues their eduction full time, then you will need to continue child maintenance payments until they complete their studies or when the child reaches 20 years of age.

Disputing Parentage

If a parent disputes parentage then the CMS will put the application on hold until the parents have reached an agreement about parentage.  There are some cases where it is not possible to dispute parentage with the CMS however:

  • If the father was married to the mother between the conception and birth of the child.
  • If the father is registered on the birth certificate either by registering the birth with the mother or with a court order
  • If a DNA test is refused by the alleged father or if a DNA test proves paternity
  • If the parents have signed a declaration of parentage
it is important that you clearly dispute parentage as soon as you receive communication from CMS otherwise you will be liable to pay child support.

Non Payment of Child Maintenance

There are a number of ways in which the CSA or CMS are able to ensure that earnings are enforced.  These include:

  • Direct deductions from earnings
  • A prision sentence of up to 6 weeks
  • Supension of a driving license

 

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