Duration of Child Support Orders

Child support begins when a couple separate or divorce, and one parent lives away from their child or children. The child will generally live with the primary carer, or parent with care, and may have regular contact with the non resident parent or may not. As parents with care are most often mothers it is the father’s obligation to support the child financially by paying regular maintenance.

A Financial Commitment

Paying maintenance for a child’s upbringing and living expenses is a big commitment for any parent. Financially supporting a child until they leave full-time education is a parental duty that requires monetary resources and a responsible outlook.

For many parents with care commitment comes in the form of supporting the child in the home environment, whilst the non resident parent provides financial assistance to cover the cost of food, shelter, clothing, educational requirements and other sundry items the child will need as they grow up.

Order Of Assistance

A Child Support order generally lasts until the child is 19. Providing financial support for that length of time means that the child is given an allowance that covers the cost of things he/she will need as they reach maturity.

Maintenance might pay for school fees, extracurricular activities, sporting items and equipment and other specialist goods that perhaps would not be affordable without the help of child support benefits.

If the child is still in education, at the age of 19, child support contributions may still be required. Providing financial assistance at this time may help ease the pressure of becoming independent. If the child has any special needs this may require that the non resident parent’s maintenance payments continue for a longer period of time.

Changes In Circumstances

Any changes in living circumstances must be reported to the Child Support Agency (CSA) as soon as possible. This includes changes in address, telephone number and employment, as well as anything else which may influence the amount of maintenance the parent with care receives. Without this updated information there may be a delay in crediting a child support account.

Changes can be reported and recorded with a member of the Child Support Agency staff via the telephone.

Modifying A Child Support Order.

The law accepts that a parent’s income and the cost of living expenses will change from time to time. After a while the initial calculation of child support, that is payable to the parent with care, may require modification in some way. Recalculation of child support will be necessary if there is an increase or decrease of at least 10%.

If a parent thinks a modification should be made, to the current payable amount of maintenance, they must check the figures using an online child support calculation option. This is quick and easy to use and can provide the information needed to update child support payment records.

Modification may be necessary if the amount of time a parent with care spends with the child decreases and the non resident parent takes on more responsibility. Loss of employment will also affect calculations.