Both parents are legally required to provide financial costs for their children. When parents separate, the parent living with the child must receive child maintenance from the other parent for the financial costs of raising their child. The cost of the child maintenance is determined by the Child Maintenance Service.

Child Maintenance Service

When a parent declares you are the other parent of the relevant child, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will write to you and ask to arrange maintenance. If you are the parent, you will have to pay child maintenance, even if you don’t have contact with the relevant children.

If the child is aged under 16 or 20 and still in education, then you will be asked by the CMS to pay child maintenance. However, the CMS can only ask you to pay maintenance if both parents and the relevant child are habitually resident in the UK. If the child is still in education but has been married or in a civil partnership, then you do not have to pay child maintenance.

CMS Assessment

The CMS will assess what you must pay in child maintenance through information provided by:

• HMRC
• the department for work and pensions.
• Information from the other parent.

CMS will contact you for your information to determine the exact amount you will have to pay. They will contact you by phone or letter, in which case you have 14 days to respond. However, if you are not on the birth certificate of the child or are unaware of the child, the CMS will arrange a face-to-face interview.

Amount of Child Maintenance

You can check how much child maintenance you must pay through:

• how many children you pay maintenance for.
• if you live with any children.
• how much you earn.

 However, if you have certain benefits such as employment and support allowance, universal credit, state pension or careers allowance you must only pay £7 a week. The CMS website provides a calculator which considers all relevant factors and shows the minimum amount a parent should be paying for their child. If you don’t agree with the calculation made by the CMS, you can ask them to look over the decision.

If a parent is refusing to pay child maintenance, a claim can be made through the CMS.

Contact Us

George Green’s Specialist Family and Divorce Lawyers regularly advise clients in respect of the arrangements for children post separation.  If you wish to discuss your matter, please call 01384 410 410 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of our team will respond.