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CHILD MAINTENANCE CHANGES

Child maintenance is regular reliable financial support to assist towards a child’s everyday living costs.  It is payable by the parent who does not have day to day care of the child to the parent with day to day care.  However, it could be payable to a person with day to day care who is not necessarily the natural parent, like a grandparent or guardian.  The rules are the same. 

 

If child maintenance cannot be agreed, it is usually dealt with by the Child Support Agency.  The rules regarding child maintenance are changing following the introduction of new legislation.  The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) was established in 2008 to take on the work of the CSA.  A core function of the Commission is to promote child maintenance and the financial responsibility that separated parents have for their children.

 

The changes in the law are being brought in on a piecemeal basis.  At the same time, under the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act (CMOPA), it no longer is necessary for new claimants who are on welfare benefits to use the CSA.  All parents can now choose the child maintenance arrangements which best suit them. 

 

In April 2010, child maintenance was fully disregarded when calculating all out of work benefits, this means that parents with the main day to day care are permitted to keep every penny of the child maintenance received without it affecting their benefit entitlement. 

 

CMOPA has also introduced more effective collection powers. These include deduction of maintenance payments and/or arrears from bank accounts without the need to apply through the courts.

 

From 2012, the Commission will bring in a new statutory maintenance scheme (the “gross income” scheme) based on the latest available tax year information from HMRC. This is expected to achieve a significant reduction in the time taken to calculate child maintenance because information will be used from a single source.  The level of maintenance will then be fixed for a year unless income varies by more than 25%.

 

By 2015, a single unified child maintenance system will be in place and all existing CSA schemes will be closed.

 

However, it will remain possible to arrange child maintenance and enforce payments through the courts.  Using the courts can be expensive and child maintenance is usually arranged in this way if the parents are already going to court for another reason, like resolving the financial settlement between them in a divorce. 

 

If you would like advice about child maintenance or indeed any aspect of family law, please contact Mandeep Clair who is a solicitor in the family law team at Grant Saw on 020 8858 6971 or by email mclair@grantsaw.co.uk.

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