Maintenance of Children

The Law
Application to vary a maintenance order

All parents, married or not, have a legal obligation to financially support their children, usually until either the child’s 19th birthday or until completion of their full time education. The obligation is not effected by separation or divorce and applies equally to married and unmarried parents.

The fact that a father is not paying maintenance does not effect the question of contact with his children. The courts will have little sympathy with a mother who uses contact with her child as a weapon to enforce maintenance.

When both parents are working and in receipt of an income there are two possibilities for deciding the amount of child maintenance.

* To try and reach an agreement between themselves, or;
* Apply to the Child Support Agency [CSA]

The former is to be preferred.

Deciding the amount of child maintenance between parents is not an exact science. The amount is best decided by discussion, negotiation and by assessing the monies required to provide for the running of a home and the needs of the children, whilst considering the financial means and requirements of both parents.

Full disclosure of both parents’ means is of the utmost importance. An agreement can be evidenced in a formal maintenance agreement or incorporated into a court order within divorce proceedings. The maintenance level agreed is not written in stone and can always be varied upwards or downwards depending on the financial circumstances of the parent as they may change over time.

When agreement can not be reached, or if the parent with care is in receipt of State Benefits, an application for child maintenance must be made to the Child Support Agency (CSA). In the case of a parent on Benefits, they have no choice in the matter, and the application will be pursued by the Benefits office who will receive any monies paid.

The Courts no longer have the power to deal with disputed maintenance for children except in special circumstances. They can only make an order if this is agreed as opposed to maintenance for the parent which the court can still decide. This means that Child Maintenance is no longer a case for the divorce court.

Child Support Agency

The CSA calculates and collects maintenance from an absent parent. New regulations came into force on 3rd March 2003 and are contained in the Child Support Pensions & Social Security Act.

The Agency also has enforcement powers which enables it to deduct payments from absent parent’s salaries and to make a liability order allowing property to be taken. Potentially a non payer can even be disqualified from driving.

The CSA now ignores the income of the parent who has retained care but it will take into account how much time a child spends with the absent parent. It will also take into account whether or not the absent parent has additional children to support in any new relationship, but not many give credit for other expenses.

Application to vary a maintenance order

The calculation is relatively straightforward and requires the absent parent to contribute 15% of their net income towards the cost of one child. This increases to 20% for two children and 25% for three or more.

Application for a Variation of a Maintenance Order