Child Maintenance: Arrangements and the Child Maintenance Service

Child maintenance is money to help pay for a child's everyday living costs, paid by one parent to the other when they do not live together¹. Both parents are legally responsible for the financial costs of bringing up their children, and that responsibility does not end because the relationship did². The parent who does not have the day-to-day care, called the paying parent, pays maintenance to the parent or person who does³.

There are two main ways to arrange it. Parents who can agree can sort it out privately between themselves at no cost, or they can use the government's Child Maintenance Service (CMS), which calculates the amount, and can collect it and enforce payment if things go wrong¹. The CMS uses a set formula based on the paying parent's gross weekly income, with rates ranging from nothing at all for the lowest incomes to a percentage of income for most working parents⁴.

This page explains who has to pay, how long payments last, how the amount is worked out, what it costs to use the CMS, and what happens when a parent does not pay.

What child maintenance is and who pays it

Child maintenance is a regular payment towards a child's everyday living costs: food, clothing, housing and the rest. It is paid when one parent does not live with the child, and the amount can be decided by the parents themselves, through a solicitor, or through the Child Maintenance Service¹. The parent providing the majority of the care is the one entitled to receive it³.

The obligation rests on both parents regardless of whether they see the child. Official Scottish guidance is blunt on this point: both parents are responsible for the costs of raising their children, even if they do not see them¹. Contact, or the absence of it, does not end the duty to pay.

The CMS is the government body responsible for the assessment and collection of ongoing child maintenance in statutory cases. It can make deductions directly from a paying parent's pay, pension or benefits, take money directly from their bank account, and apply to the court for a liability order, which opens the way to further enforcement such as seizing property⁴. Using those enforcement powers carries an extra fee for the paying parent⁴.

If you are separating, maintenance sits alongside the other money questions that come with a split. The page on separating or divorcing covers the full checklist, and untangling joint finances deals with joint accounts and debts.

Who can get child maintenance: parents need not have been married

Marriage has nothing to do with it. You do not need to have been married, and the parent paying child maintenance does not need to be in contact with your children³. The parents do not need to have been married or in a civil partnership, and the father's name does not need to be on the child's birth certificate².

What matters is who has day-to-day care. The parent who does not have it pays; the parent or person who does receives³. If day-to-day care is genuinely equal between the parents, the paying parent does not have to pay any child maintenance for that child¹⁰.

There are some limits on the CMS itself. If the paying parent lives abroad, you generally cannot use the service, with exceptions for people working abroad for certain British organisations: civil servants, diplomats, the armed forces, people working for a UK-based and registered company, or someone on secondment for a UK regional health authority or local council¹¹. If the child and the parent with main day-to-day care live abroad, you cannot make a new application to the CMS at all¹¹.

How long child maintenance lasts: up to 16, or 20 in approved education

Child maintenance has to be paid for children up until they are 16, or until they are 20 if they are in approved education or training⁵. The CMS can help arrange payments for children up to, and including, 19 years old if you still get Child Benefit for them¹⁴.

The link to Child Benefit matters because entitlement to maintenance runs alongside it: you are entitled to receive child maintenance payments for a child while you are receiving Child Benefit for them¹⁴. Child Benefit usually stops on the last day of August after your child's 16th birthday, unless you tell the Child Benefit office that they are staying in approved education or training¹⁵. If they do stay, Child Benefit can continue until they turn 20¹⁶.

Approved education or training generally means full-time, non-advanced education: no higher than A-level or the equivalent. If your child is 16 or 17 and has left approved education, you may be able to keep Child Benefit for up to 20 weeks longer under the Child Benefit Extension Period¹⁶.

When a child leaves education or training, several things change at once and each needs reporting. Child Benefit usually stops on the last day of August, November, February or May after the education finishes¹⁵. If you get maintenance through the CMS, you are no longer entitled to payments when your child leaves approved education or training, and you must let the CMS know¹⁵. If you claim Housing Benefit you must tell your local council, and Working Tax Credit stops unless you are working 30 or more hours each week¹⁵. Payments owed for periods before your child left school should still be paid, even after they are no longer eligible¹⁵.

A parent can continue to pay maintenance voluntarily, or under a court agreement, after Child Benefit has stopped, but it cannot be arranged through the CMS from that point¹⁴.

Private arrangement or the Child Maintenance Service

Parents have two routes, and the choice is mostly a trade between cost and enforceability.

A private arrangement, sometimes called a family-based arrangement, is an agreement between the parents without any involvement from the CMS. There is no cost to setting it up⁸, and no fees are paid by either parent⁷. It can cover the amount, how it is paid and how often, and it can be changed if circumstances change, as long as both parents agree⁸. Payments made under it can be in cash, by bank transfer, or in kind.

Its weakness is enforcement. Because the arrangement is not legally binding in the way a CMS calculation is, a parent who stops paying cannot be forced to pay⁸. If the arrangement breaks down, for example because payments are missed, parents can then turn to the CMS for support¹⁷.

The CMS route starts with the free, impartial and confidential online service Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance¹⁸. The service calculates the amount using its formula, and offers two ways to pay:

The collection fees are the price of the CMS doing the chasing. For paying parents, a 20% fee is added to each amount collected; for receiving parents, a 4% fee is taken away from each amount they are due to receive⁷. Most payments are made every week (52 payments a year) or every month (12 payments a year)⁷.

How the Child Maintenance Service works out the amount

The CMS calculates the amount using a set formula, taking into account the paying parent's income and any other children they are responsible for⁵. It usually follows six steps to work out the weekly amount²⁰, and although maintenance may be paid monthly, fortnightly or weekly, child support law says the amount has to be worked out as a weekly amount¹⁰.

The starting point is the paying parent's gross annual income. In most cases this comes from information given to HMRC by the paying parent, their employer or a third party such as their accountant¹⁰. The rates are applied to a full year's taxable income¹¹. The CMS also takes into account the number of children the paying parent has to pay maintenance for, including other children living with them and arrangements made directly with an ex-partner²¹.

One of five rates is then applied, based on the paying parent's gross weekly income²¹:

The Basic rate, for gross weekly income of £200 to £799, is 12% of gross income for one child, 16% for two children and 19% for three or more children¹¹. The Basic Plus rate, for income of £800 to £3,000, applies the Basic rate to the first £800 and then 9%, 12% or 15% of the income above £800 depending on the number of children¹¹. The Reduced rate, for income of £100.01 to £199.99, has two parts: an amount equal to the flat rate of £7 per week, plus a percentage of the gross weekly income above £100: 17% for one child, 25% for two and 31% for three or more¹¹.

Two further points are worth knowing. If the paying parent earns more than £156,000 a year, the CMS cannot calculate maintenance on the excess, and you would need to apply through the courts for more⁵. And if the CMS cannot obtain income information at all, it makes a default maintenance decision: £39 a week for one child, £51 for two and £64 for three or more¹¹.

If the paying parent is a student, any earnings from employment are used in the calculation, but student finance, including loans and grants, does not count¹¹. A new partner's income is not part of the calculation at all, though the amount can be reduced if the paying parent pays maintenance for children from another relationship or has a relevant child living with them⁵. Either parent can apply for a variation at any time during the life of a case, but it will only be accepted on certain grounds, which differ depending on whether you are the paying or receiving parent²².

Shared care reduces what is paid

If the child lives with their other parent for part of the time, the receiving parent gets less child maintenance⁵. The CMS makes a deduction to the weekly amount based on the average number of shared care nights a week²¹, and if the paying parent looks after the child for 52 nights a year or more, payments may be reduced²³.

The reduction bands, for parents paying at the Basic, Basic Plus or Reduced rate, are:

The CMS can only accept certain evidence of shared care: a current court order, a formal agreement such as one drawn up by a solicitor, or another official document, for example reports from CAFCASS or social services²³. If parents agree there are at least 52 nights but cannot agree the exact number above that, the CMS will assume shared care is only happening for 52 nights a year²⁰.

There are floors and exceptions. A paying parent on the Basic, Basic Plus or Reduced rate always pays at least £7 a week after shared care has been taken into account¹⁰. If care is shared exactly equally, neither parent has to pay child maintenance⁵, though if care is shared equally in practice there may still be a small amount payable in some circumstances²⁵. Flat rate maintenance is affected differently, as explained below. And if the local authority has overnight care for 263 nights a year or more, the paying parent does not have to pay any child maintenance for that child¹⁰.

With a private arrangement, none of this formula applies: parents who share care can decide the amount between themselves, as they can with any private agreement²⁵.

Paying parents on benefits or out of work: the £7 a week flat rate

A paying parent who is out of work does not escape the obligation, but the amount drops to a fixed minimum. If the paying parent is not working, there is no maintenance to be paid unless they are getting a benefit such as Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit, in which case a flat rate of £7 per week is payable²⁶. Official guidance confirms the flat rate is a fixed weekly amount of £7, regardless of the number of children⁶.

The flat rate applies where gross weekly income is £7 to £100, or if the paying parent gets benefits²⁰. The qualifying benefits include Universal Credit, New Style Jobseeker's Allowance, Pension Credit, Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, State Pension, Carer's Allowance, Maternity Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, War Disablement Pension and War Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner Pension, among others⁶.

Where the flat rate applies because of benefits, shared care can reduce it further. If the paying parent gets benefits and it is agreed that the child stays overnight for 52 nights or more a year, they do not pay child maintenance for that child, or for any other children living in the same household as that child²⁰. Shared care of at least 52 nights a year reduces the flat rate to £0 for that child¹⁰. But if the flat rate applies because income is £100 a week or less rather than because of benefits, shared care is not taken into account at all¹⁰.

There is one route to a higher figure. If the paying parent or their partner is getting benefits but also has gross income from a pension, employment or self-employment of at least £100 a week, that earned income can be brought into the calculation through a variation²². And if a paying parent's income falls below £7 a week, or they fall into certain groups such as prisoners or children under 16, the Nil rate applies and nothing is payable¹¹.

Child maintenance and your benefits, tax credits and credit applications

For the receiving parent, the headline rule is simple: child maintenance does not reduce your benefits. If you are a receiving parent getting any social security benefits, you keep all child maintenance paid, and it does not affect the benefits you claim⁶. This applies to all kinds of child maintenance payments, including private arrangements, statutory arrangements and court orders⁶. Any CMS payments you receive will not affect your Universal Credit payments²⁷.

Two duties sit alongside that. Receiving parents are still expected to tell the Jobcentre Plus about the arrangement⁹, and in Northern Ireland the reporting requirement extends to telling the Jobs and Benefits office about child maintenance arrangements, including how much is received and how often⁶.

For the paying parent, the interaction runs the other way. If you stop paying, the CMS can get money from your Universal Credit: deductions are made only if you have no earned income that month²⁸. Your Universal Credit payments could also be reduced if you owe money for child maintenance²⁷. Where the paying parent receives income-related benefits and uses Collect and Pay, the maintenance will usually be taken directly from their benefit payments²⁹. The CMS can take up to £8.40 a week from the other parent's benefits: the £7 payment plus their collection fee¹⁹. Certain payments are protected: the CMS does not deduct child maintenance from Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Payments or Carer Support Payment¹⁰.

On credit applications, child maintenance is not a credit agreement and does not appear on a credit report as a borrowing. What a lender sees is the effect on your budget: for a paying parent it is an outgoing, and for a receiving parent it is income that does not affect benefits. If you are in debt, the next section explains where maintenance arrears sit in the queue.

A priority bill: paying maintenance when you are in debt

If you owe maintenance arrears and other debts at the same time, the maintenance comes first. StepChange is explicit: these payments are a priority, to be paid before debts like credit cards and personal loans⁹. Child maintenance is considered a government debt, and the consequences of not paying it are more serious than the consequences of missing ordinary consumer credit⁹.

Priority debts generally are the ones with severe consequences attached: missed payments to court fines, council tax, water bills, and your rent or mortgage³⁰. Maintenance belongs in that group because enforcement can reach into earnings, benefits, bank accounts and, ultimately, liberty.

For a paying parent in financial difficulty, there is one narrow piece of flexibility. Under Collect and Pay, a payment can be counted as maintenance in exceptional circumstances only if it was made, with the receiving parent's agreement, for the mortgage or a loan secured on the child's home, essential repairs or improvements to that home, rent or council tax, gas, water or electricity charges, or essential repairs to the heating system or fabric of the home where the child lives²⁹. This is not a general right to pay in kind: it needs agreement and it needs to fit one of those categories.

Free debt advice is available from charities including StepChange, and the debt section of this site explains the options, from budgeting to formal solutions. If you are juggling arrears with everyday bills, getting advice before enforcement starts matters, because the enforcement steps in the next section escalate quickly.

What happens if a parent does not pay

The answer depends entirely on which arrangement is in place. With a private arrangement, a parent who stops paying cannot be forced to pay⁸. The receiving parent's remedy is to apply to the CMS, which can then take over the calculation and collection¹⁷.

With the CMS, the position is different. You can get help from the CMS if the paying parent misses payments, does not pay in full, or makes payments late⁴. The CMS will take action if a payment is not made in full and on time⁴. Its enforcement powers are:

1. Deductions directly from the paying parent's pay, pension or benefits⁴
2. Taking money directly from their bank account⁴
3. Applying to the court for a liability order⁴

A liability order can be ordered by the Child Maintenance Service, or by a local council in council tax cases³¹. The CMS applies to the court to have a liability order granted against the paying parent³². Once a court order is granted, the CMS can take further actions such as seizing property⁴. If you do not pay child maintenance arrears, your driving licence could be revoked and your passport could be revoked³¹.

In England or Wales, the consequences can go further still: money can be taken from your bank account or benefits, bailiffs can visit, there can be a court order to sell belongings or property, and your driving licence or passport can be taken³⁰. In England, you can go to prison for non-payment of council tax arrears, criminal fines, and maintenance³⁰. Business Debtline describes the court process in similar terms for court-ordered maintenance: the court can order a hearing, use diligence, and in some situations you could be sent to prison if it decides you are deliberately not paying³³.

The paying parent pays for enforcement. The CMS charges £50 for deducting maintenance from earnings⁷, and the paying parent will need to pay an extra fee if the CMS uses these actions⁴.

If payments have stopped and you are not sure what to do next, Gingerbread's guidance on chasing payments through the CMS sets out the practical steps¹⁹, and the wider money questions when a relationship ends are covered in separating or divorcing and cohabiting couples.