Child Maintenance FAQs – UK Questions Answered

Child maintenance is regular financial support intended to help cover a child's everyday living costs when their parents live apart. Parents can make an agreement privately or arrange statutory maintenance through the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Read our complete child maintenance guide .

CMS works out how much maintenance should be paid, based on relevant income and other circumstances. It can provide Direct Pay arrangements or collect and transfer payments through Collect and Pay. CMS also reviews assessments and can pursue unpaid maintenance. Learn how CMS calculates payments .

Under the ordinary CMS scheme, the paying parent is usually the parent who provides less main day-to-day care. The receiving parent generally provides the child's main day-to-day care. Special rules apply where day-to-day care is genuinely equal or children live in different households.

Yes. Parents can agree how much to pay, how often to pay and how to share other child-related expenses. This is commonly called a family-based arrangement. It can be flexible, but it does not automatically have the same collection and enforcement provisions as a CMS arrangement.

Yes. Our free UK child maintenance calculator provides indicative results for supported family circumstances. You can also use the official GOV.UK calculator . Neither estimate replaces a formal CMS decision.

CMS normally starts with relevant taxable gross annual income, using HMRC information. This generally means income before Income Tax and National Insurance, taking applicable pension adjustments into account. Your take-home salary is not the usual starting figure. See gross versus net income .

For an ordinary Basic-rate case with relevant gross weekly income between £200 and £800, CMS normally uses 12% for one qualifying child. Different bands apply to lower or higher income, and further adjustments can affect the result. Read maintenance for one child .

For the ordinary Basic-rate band, CMS uses 16% for two qualifying children and 19% for three or more. These are combined rates, not percentages charged separately for every child. See our two-child guide and three-child guide .

Unemployment does not automatically mean no maintenance. CMS may apply a £7 weekly Flat rate for qualifying benefit or income circumstances, while a £0 Nil rate can apply in specified cases. The correct result depends on the actual assessment. Read child maintenance when unemployed .

It can. In eligible income-based cases, CMS adjusts the paying parent's relevant income by 11% for one qualifying other child, 14% for two, or 16% for three or more. The adjustment applies to income before the payment is calculated, not directly to the maintenance bill. See maintenance when you have another child .

Yes, qualifying overnight stays can reduce maintenance in relevant CMS cases. The ordinary bands begin at 52 nights per year and increase as the number of nights rises. Specific rules apply to benefit-based Flat-rate assessments. Read our shared care guide .

In an ordinary income-based assessment, 52–103 nights generally give a 1/7 reduction; 104–155 nights give 2/7; and 156–174 nights give 3/7. At 175 or more nights, a special 50% reduction plus £7 for that child generally applies, subject to the statutory rules. See overnight stays explained .

Not automatically. Equal numbers of overnight stays do not always mean equal day-to-day care. CMS can still assess maintenance where one parent provides less day-to-day care. If both parents genuinely provide equal day-to-day care, no statutory maintenance liability may arise for that child. Read our 50/50 shared care guide .

Qualifying overnight stays during weekends and school holidays can count towards the annual shared-care total. Count actual or agreed qualifying nights carefully and avoid double-counting holiday nights already included in a normal parenting schedule.

CMS may consider information about the agreed care arrangements, including relevant court orders and other evidence. Special assumptions may apply where shared overnight care is agreed but the exact number of nights is disputed. Report a change through your CMS online account.

With Direct Pay, CMS calculates the amount but parents make payments directly. With Collect and Pay, CMS collects and transfers maintenance. Direct Pay has no CMS collection fees; Collect and Pay normally has additional collection charges. Read Direct Pay vs Collect and Pay .

Under the published CMS collection arrangements, the paying parent is charged an additional 20% and the receiving parent has 4% deducted from maintenance collected and passed on. Direct Pay does not have these CMS collection fees.

CMS can take collection and enforcement action to recover maintenance that is legally due. Depending on the circumstances, this may include deductions from earnings or bank accounts and other statutory procedures. Read our child maintenance arrears guide .

Yes. CMS can use a deduction from earnings order in qualifying cases, requiring an employer to deduct maintenance directly from the paying parent's wages. The arrangement is subject to the applicable legal rules.

No, not automatically. The end of ongoing maintenance for a child does not necessarily cancel recoverable arrears from earlier payment periods. CMS may still seek recovery of amounts legally outstanding. Read unpaid maintenance explained .

Ordinary CMS maintenance generally stops when the child is no longer eligible or turns 20, whichever comes first. Eligible education or training can allow maintenance to continue beyond age 16. Relevant course-end dates may also apply. See when child maintenance stops .

No. Turning 18 does not automatically end maintenance. A young person can remain eligible while in approved full-time non-advanced education or training, subject to the relevant conditions and the upper age limit.

It can. Eligible full-time non-advanced education, including A levels and certain vocational qualifications, may allow maintenance to continue while the young person remains under 20. Course level, acceptance dates and other conditions are relevant.

Ordinary CMS maintenance generally stops when a child begins advanced education, such as a university degree. Parents may agree voluntary financial support, and separate court remedies may exist in qualifying circumstances. Read maintenance for university students .

Scotland uses the same general CMS income percentage bands as England and Wales. However, some application and wider family-law provisions differ, including the ability of eligible young people aged 12 or older to apply themselves. Read our Scotland maintenance guide .

CMS normally conducts an annual review every 12 months. It checks the relevant income and benefit information and notifies parents of the resulting decision. The payment can increase, decrease or stay the same. Read the CMS annual review guide .

A 25% threshold applies to some comparisons between current and historic income or changes to existing current-income assessments. It is not a universal threshold for every reportable change or annual review. See income changes and annual reviews .

Report relevant income and employment changes to CMS promptly. Provide suitable evidence and check whether a revised assessment is appropriate. Do not independently cancel or change an active payment plan without confirmation.

You can ask CMS to reconsider an eligible decision, normally within one month of the decision notice. This is called mandatory reconsideration. If you still disagree after the reconsideration decision, you may have a right of appeal to a tribunal. Follow the deadline stated in your notice.

Child maintenance received by a parent does not normally reduce their Universal Credit entitlement. The rules for a paying parent who receives benefits are separate. Read child maintenance on benefits for further guidance.