{"id":2674,"date":"2025-07-20T13:46:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T12:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/?p=2674"},"modified":"2025-07-20T17:55:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T16:55:07","slug":"child-maintenance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/archives\/2674","title":{"rendered":"Child Maintenance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Child Maintenance<\/h2><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Child maintenance is a cornerstone of family law, and attempts to ensure that children receive financial support from both parents in the event of a separation. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), even if a financial order on divorce includes child maintenance, it can typically be altered by the CMS after 12 months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Child maintenance refers to financial support provided by the non-resident parent to help cover a child\u2019s living costs, such as food, clothing, and housing. It is a legal obligation under English law, regardless of the parents\u2019 relationship status.
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There are three main ways to arrange child maintenance:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Family Based Arrangement: informal agreement between parents, flexible and cost-free, but no legal enforcement mechanism<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Statutory Arrangement via the Child Maintenance Service (CMS): CMS calculates payments based on the non-resident parent’s (NRP) gross income, payments can be made by Direct Pay (no fees), Collect & Pay (20% surcharge for NRP, 4% deduction for resident parent)<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Court Ordered Maintenance: used in complex cases (e.g. high income, overseas parent, disability related costs), can include top up orders if CMS assessment is insufficient. Court ordered maintenance can also be included in the financial order on divorce, however it can be changed after 12 months by either parent applying to the CMS.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The CMS uses a formula considering:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Gross weekly income of NRP<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Number of qualifying children<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Share care arrangements (overnight stays)<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Other dependent children<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Courts only intervene when:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/path><\/svg><\/span>The CMS lacks jurisdiction (e.g. parent lives abroad)<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Additional financial needs arise (e.g. school fees, disability)<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>A divorce settlement includes childmaintenance provisions<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Court orders can be enforced through:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Deduction from earnings<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Seizure of assets<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Imprisonment or disqualification from driving<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Maintenance usually continues until the child:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Turns 16, or<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Turns 20 if in full time education (up to A levels or equivalent)<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>It may extend further for children with disabilities or ongoing education needs<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Failure to pay can result in:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Enforcement action by CMS<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Court orders<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Damage to credit rating<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Legal penalties, including imprisonment<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Realistically, child maintenance should not be seen as just a financial duty; it is a commitment to a child\u2019s well-being, your child, for whom you should want the bes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Whether arranged privately or through statutory or court mechanisms, understanding your rights and responsibilities is essential. Legal advice can help navigate complex scenarios and ensure that arrangements are fair, sustainable, and in the child\u2019s best interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Contact Us<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Child Maintenance Child maintenance is a cornerstone of family law, and attempts to ensure that children receive financial support from both parents in the event of a separation. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), even if a financial order on divorce includes child maintenance, it can typically be altered by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"zakra_page_container_layout":"customizer","zakra_page_sidebar_layout":"customizer","zakra_remove_content_margin":false,"zakra_sidebar":"customizer","zakra_transparent_header":"customizer","zakra_logo":0,"zakra_main_header_style":"default","zakra_menu_item_color":"","zakra_menu_item_hover_color":"","zakra_menu_item_active_color":"","zakra_menu_active_style":"","zakra_page_header":true,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[178],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-finances"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"mailpoet_newsletter_max":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Lea_NSW","author_link":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/archives\/author\/admin"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Child Maintenance Child maintenance is a cornerstone of family law, and attempts to ensure that children receive financial support from both parents in the event of a separation. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), even if a financial order on divorce includes child maintenance, it can typically be altered by…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2674"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2716,"href":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2674\/revisions\/2716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.no53legal.uk\/nws\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}