Arranging Child Support Through the Courts

Author: Lorna Elliott

It is possible to arrange child maintenance payments through the court. This is done, in England and Wales, by way of a ‘consent order.’ A consent order is an official ruing of the court that orders the non-resident parent to pay an agreed amount of child support to the resident parent. If you and your ex partner cannot agree on the amount that should be paid, a consent order is not the right option for you.

Consent orders for child support payments are almost always ordered at the same time as the parties are in court for another reason, e.g. a divorce or in ancillary relief proceedings. If you are not eligible for legal aid, you will have to pay for the consent order yourself (court fees, solicitors fees etc.) It is also important to note that if you are normally eligible for legal aid, you will not be covered for a consent order if you are only going to court to deal with child maintenance issues.

What Happens If The Order Is Breached?

If the non-resident parent does not comply with the order of the court, the court can then enforce payment against them. If you then wish to go to the CSA/CMS to obtain child maintenance payments, you cannot do this until the order has been in force for at least twelve months.

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The Court’s Powers of Enforcement

Much like the powers of the CSA/CMS, the court can require that deductions are made from the non-resident parent’s earnings at source. It is also possible to put a charge on the non-resident parent’s property, if they own it. Although this is not a quick-fix in that you will not get your money immediately, it means that you will obtain the money you are owed on the sale of the property if there is enough equity left after mortgage and any other charges are paid off. If your ex-partner has a lot of charges against his or her property, you may be quite a long way down the list and may not receive anything when it is sold. If someone owes your ex-partner money, you can apply to the court to obtain a ‘third party debt order’, which is basically an order of the court requiring the money to be paid to you rather than to your ex-partner. You can do this with money owed to your ex by banks, companies and private individuals. The facility for an overdraft does not count, in this regard, and nor does money that is contained within a joint account.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Injunction

If your ex is caught trying to move money between accounts or hiding details of his or her finances, you can also ask the court to intervene by obtaining a ‘freezing injunction.’ This stops the assets being moved around, and is especially useful if your ex-partner is trying to take money out of the country.

Prison For Non-Payment of Child Support

A last resort in relation to child maintenance payments is that you can apply to the court to have your ex-partner sent to prison. The application that you make is called a ‘Request for Judgment Summons’, which summons your ex to court. If your ex does not show up, the court may issue a warrant for their immediate arrest, or a ‘suspended committal order’, which in effect gives them another chance to show up before a warrant is issued.

The judge can either: order that the payments are made by instalments; or, if satisfied that your ex has the means to pay but is wilfully refusing to pay, can send him or her to prison for a period of up to six weeks.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Child Support Rights Checker lets you answer a few questions about your situation and get a clear summary of your child maintenance rights and options. Try it now →

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77 questions

Ask Child Support Laws a Question

Julie2 29/08/2021 at 7:51 pm

I don’t know how these partners keep getting away with it. Mine is the same brand new business van new Land Rover private number plates paying his brothers wages who also lives in London rent to pay. My ex husband lives at home with his parents for years I’ve been asking for a pay increase to shared maintenance for 9 years. I’ve had to take two jobs just to make sure my daughter has everything I’m paying his share of maintenance. Child support service I had to pay for are doing absolutely nothing. The ex claims he only brings in £262 a week but his life style is a different one. It’s a battle ground for shared maintenance and it shouldn’t be.

Ex living the dream 14/09/2019 at 9:14 am

I have a court order for child maintenance payments. My ex has not paid since 2009 due to him going to the Csa/Cma they reassessed the amount down by 2/3rds he is self employed so same old same old not working/hence depression but still manages to go to the pub every night. Is it true that the order was only live for a year and him going to the CMA after a year the order was rubberstamped is correct? So in theory the court order long term is not worth the paper it’s written on?

Kai34 02/09/2019 at 12:50 pm

I went to court and th court said I only have to pay £1,300 as I am self employed. I happily said I’d do that and continue to buy my sons shoes clothes etc when needed. The Csa sent me a letter today with a copy of the order for 1,3000 and asking for £445 a month over 12 months??? More than the order is for?

Missa 06/06/2019 at 1:37 pm

My sons dad live out of the UK so i need to take him to court to have a order out im place that he pays child maintenance but i do not know which forms i need to fill out and put to the court to start this process can anyone help me?

Cb44 23/05/2019 at 1:22 am

My husband has a court order to pay child support for his daughter (from a previous relationship)who is 20 yrs old who is studying at a uni. He has remarried and has 2 young children and we are really struggling financially to get by even day to day. Is there anyway we can stop the court order now she is 20 yrs old or even reduce the amount. We are sick with worry as we dont know how we can pay the child support any more. Please can you help. Thank you

Kerry 17/01/2019 at 9:54 pm

I was in a 9 years cohabitation and a child of 4 years , because he was extremely manipulative and violent, after I moved from the house he bought when we were together,after I took any non-molestation order. I have applied for CSA in February 2018, and he was gaming all the time with CSA , that he is only a employee and earned £150 pw , as a company director he takes as dividends over 100k and playing with this all the time ...
not only that he have a properties on rental and access over 4 million...
CSA Already told him the calculation but he still not paying...
it’s horibly frustrating , the waiting and how he can gaming CSA...
now he trying anything he can to lower the payment... he got another child which was a concent order to awarded to be paid...
what can I do ?
Can I get any consent order to force.
I was his accountant so I know exactly how he gaming the situation...

Kirsty1 17/12/2018 at 9:41 am

Hello
My ex partner was employed and I had been receiving £1500 a month for two children. In beginning on 2018 he started a successful business employing a further 3 directors, one being his WIFE! They live in a 350k house drive two cars one being x6 have nice holidays and so on.....1 year ago my payments have dropped to £120 a month after he made his wife director and is now only claiming to the HMRC he earns £8200 a year... really! This is not only tax avoidance but dirversion of find to avoids paying maintenance... looks like he’s taking dividends and paying his wife a massive salary when she clearly does not work and Lola after there son full time ! Where do I start this is totally disgusting and unfair..

Piebaby 15/11/2018 at 1:45 pm

I’ve a court order and it states my ex should pay an amount for his children each month. It says he must pay on time and by standing order. He’s never paid in time or by standing order and now he’s stopped paying for our daughter. What can I do? He says he’s not going to pay and is three months behind.

Fed Up Ex 29/10/2018 at 3:55 pm

Got a consent order from the court when i got divorced in 2016. It stated that i paid a set amount for my 2 children. I have done this and over the years given her half towards everything else. She has now gone to the child maintenance service saying the court order only stood for a year. Is this true if so why pay a solicitor to get this claus included in the divorce.

Helen 28/09/2018 at 8:59 pm

Hello,
I have been using the CSA then the CMS for the last 4.5years to try and get a fair payment from my sons father (CSA case was closed early due to a nil assessment as he told them he wasn’t work when he was)
He repeatedly plays games (gives false contact details/ living circumstances/income details/employer name etc etc.) in the last year I have received 41 letters from the CMS for all the recurrent changes. As soon as something is arranged and set up the day before payment he will call and change his payment method/say he is now unemployed etc etc they then ask for evidence which is never received and then the processed starts all over again until another deductions of earning is set up and then he calls the day before and makes a minimum payment so that the deductions of earning is removed. He was left on a nil assessment for 7months despite me informing them repeatedly that he was working, and when the backdated figure was put in place he fought against it as it that the CMS fault that the calculation hadn’t been done and the backdated figure was basically ignored. All I got was a written apology from CMS for their mistake.
He has never been out of arrears disputes living a luxury lifestyle of holidays and season tickets whilst I have to work 45hrs pw to support my son.
I understand that it is him that is playing the game but the CMS are just allowing him to do it. How can they allow the same cycle over and over again? He has never been fined for providing false information-should he not be? I feel that the CMS are letting my son down and not providing the service that they are supposed to. Can I go about taking legal action against the CMS for not sorting this out properly?
Thanks

Scotty 28/09/2018 at 7:09 am

Long story short I have 2 children to an ex, I have custody of one child she has custody of the second child, I am remarried so is she with kids to new partners, but because I work I have to pay her maintenance for our second child, but she contributes nothing to our oldest with her not working, is this right? Shouldn't this balance itself out?

ChildSupportLaws Editor 26/02/2018 at 12:13 pm

You can take your ex to court, only if you can prove that his earnings are more than he is declaring, which is not easy when someone is self-employed, as they can legally pitch earnings against expenses. You cannot take your ex to court on the basis of hiding income he hasn't yet earned. The only time you can take your ex to court is if his lifestyle begins to look as though he obviously is earning more than he is stating to the HMRC. In such a case, the courts would look at his accounts in depth. However, you have to have a strong case, as if his accounts prove to be squeaky clean, then it is you who may have to pay out for the court costs.

Lisa 25/02/2018 at 7:56 pm

My ex husband has purposely gone self employed so he doesn't have to pay for his daughter anymore and has informed me I won't be getting anymore child maintenance.
I currently go through the CMS.
I know he's going to be earning a lot more than he did at his previous job but he won't declare it.
Can I take my ex to court and would it be worth my while?
Thank you.

Sunny 03/02/2018 at 3:06 am

I am in a very similar situation to the comment posted by mom 2.

My ex-husband is no longer employed and will be relocating to America. We did not have any court order, just mutual agreements and then we used CSA towards the end which is case file was just closed, as he is no longer employed. I read that I cannot do anything with the REMO country because we never had a court order.

I honestly don’t want to get him in any trouble with his new life in America and I don’t know if I’m supposed to now bring him to court in the UK or bring him to court in America to request a court ordered child support. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Justice for children 29/12/2017 at 1:25 pm

Hi i read All your comments ihave been at this problem over 8years.done all Csa complaint procedure it’s called RUN AROUND.make sense.GET TO YOUR MP. Get them involved about Csa or Cms failing you .GET your MP to contact RT HON FRANK FIELD MP chairman of work and. Pension committee about your case .he is having ago with child maintenance minister,Get more complaint in then government wii have to listen.its about Diversion of money and Assets please don’t sit back . ATTACK.

ChildSupportLaws Editor 10/10/2017 at 10:27 am

Taking your ex to court for child maintenance is a costly business and therefore you would need to have a strong case. Where a non-resident parent has 'unearned income' (eg. income from property rental, dividends or interest, as defined by reference to the tax statutes) it can be taken into account, dependent upon the amount he earns. Also, a non-resident parent's liability can be increased if that individual's 'lifestyle is inconsistent with their income.' In the first instance you may wish to complain whichIf you wish to seek legal advice with regards to taking the matter to court, then you will have a stronger case if you can prove your ex makes excessive pension contributions, or pays himself via his new partner, or if he does not pay himself a salary that equates to his lifestyle. A court can look into his accounts and spending habits more in depth than CMS can.

SJ1982 09/10/2017 at 11:51 am

My ex has never paid maintenance and our daughter will be 12 years old soon.
He receives profit from rental properties, even after all mortgage and insurance expenses are deducted he still earns enough to not need to work. CSA state that they don't consider rental income as an income for maintenance calculations. Ex also is getting ESA somehow so surely I should get at least £5/ week? I wouldn't like to know how I can get maintenance from him.
If HMRC recognise his income for getting their tax paid then why can't it be considered for chairs maintenance? And why am I not even getting £5/week?
Can I take him to court?

Rudi Editor 26/09/2017 at 12:53 pm

@Lulu - you are paying to help support your child, who might not eat otherwise!

Lulu 25/09/2017 at 9:45 pm

Hi .the mother of the child I am paying maintenance to is illegally living in the UK .Can she get away with this, because she is hiding from the uk border and still receiving money from csa .Is there any chance I can take her to court with this new system .

Poppy 26/07/2017 at 1:17 pm

Hello
My husband has a consent order that does not specify child maintenance, more so financials of assets but he has paid the agreed amount that was originally in the separation agreement since separation.

One daughter has just finished A levels and the son has finished the first year uni. The intention is to now stop all maintenance. He paid the extra year for the eldest just to keep things simple. (I might add he does not see his children after a lengthy contact battle but continued to pay maintenance)

The separation agreement specifies paying to tertiary education but he never agreed to have that in the consent order as we were advised to keep maintenance out. So the question is: Are we correct that the consent order over rides the separation agreement that was made before divorce and so therefore now both have finished their A levels he can stop maintenance? Thank you

Mum of 2 19/07/2017 at 6:56 pm

Hi,

My children's father has not paid maintenance for 6 years. Despite the arrears building up to over £20k, the CSA were not able to get any from him. The new CMS is not able start a claim as he now lives abroad. They told me to contact REMO which only enforces child maintenance if your arrangement was through the court. Is there anyone who knows who I should contact? My children are at secondary school now and it's really difficult despite a good job and they deserve it.

Thanks.

ChildSupportLaws Editor 03/07/2017 at 10:36 am

You can see more whichI advise you also speak with CMS or your solicitor directly regarding this. It is highly unlikely you would have to pay both child maintenance through your financial agreement and additional child maintenance via CMS.

Randolf 02/07/2017 at 9:40 am

I separated from my wife in 2014 the consent order had the annual review of the child maintenance taken off due to the whole financial package
There is a amount that I should pay until there 18 or finish further education which I have always paid and more
Does this still stand as she has now gone to CSA for no reason
Talking to her is not a option

ChildSupportLaws Editor 26/06/2017 at 3:00 pm

Yes. Every parent has the basic responsibility to provide for their child up until the age of 16, when they are legally allowed to leave school and get a job. After this age, it depends what your child chooses to do. If they continue in full-time non-advanced education not higher than A-level equivalent, for at least 12 hours a week, then your maintenance payments will continue until your child finishes the course or until they turn 20. If you are paying via CMS, then your payments will stop automatically. Otherwise, it should be agreed between your daughter's mother and yourself.

Seahawk 25/06/2017 at 10:54 am

Hi,
My ex-wife and I have a court order which has been in place since 2001 for maintenance payments for our daughter. It states payments are "payable in advance until the said child attains 18 or ceases full time education (up to but not including University Education or equivalent) whichever is the later or further order". My daughter has been studying A Level equivalent courses since leaving school at 16, she is due to be 20 in the next couple of months. Please can someone tell me if court order maintenance follows CMS rules and Child Benefit, in that payments should stop at 20 years of age? And if so what action I need to take when she reaches 20. Many thanks

ChildSupportLaws Editor 12/06/2017 at 10:57 am

Speak to CMS directly, You will either continue the payment agreement for your son as to the court order. Or if the court order has ended on your son leaving school, CMS will be able to help arrange.

iantt 11/06/2017 at 3:05 pm

hi there, got divorced in 2006 and had court order for child maintenance for my 2 children , paying every month into my ex bank acc . i didnt realise that the order went over and above csa calc and had to pay until my daughter finished education to first degree or 18yrs old. she is now 21 and finished her degree and working. i will be stopping paying for her but my son is 16 and due to go to college.
my question is how do we come to a new payment amount. back to court or new csa?

ChildSupportLaws Editor 19/05/2017 at 2:49 pm

You should begin by seeing a solicitor to see whether you have a strong case, as you could be liable to court costs if you lose. You don't give the reason why your ex has not paid and why CSA/CMS were unable to collect the money. If your ex does not have the money (regardless of whether he owes it or not), a court may not be able to extract the money either. Therefore, please take some sound legal advice first.

sammy123 19/05/2017 at 1:08 pm

I am currently owed back pay (substantial amount) my son is now 22 years old and I have never recieved a penny from the father. He has had numerous assessments by the CSA, some reasonable other amounts baffling. I fully intend to take the father to court for the back pay, I am just looking for advice on where I should begin? The process etc..

Me 14/05/2017 at 10:34 pm

I separated from my children father in 2015, he hasn't paid me a penny since oct 2016, and the payments in between was in constant. I finally got a csa agreement in Aug 2016, which he broke 3 months later. They wright to him, he promises to pay, then don't. I am owed 1200 and counting. He hasn't seen my chick since July 2016 after my son just refused to c him as all visits was in the pub, or around other people. My son kept requesting time alone with him, he refused, calling my son selfish. Since we split I have had a non mol order against him, and his new partner has had a warning of the police for harassment, which they have both resently broke. I am in financial crisis, I was debt free when I broke from him, after 4 yrs of slugging my guts out to free myself, after we split, I unavoidable got myself into debt, just trying to keep the roof over mine and my children head. I've been advised to get a court order for maintenance, but I'm not sure where he lives, where he works, and I really can't afford court costs, etc. I work, 30 hrs a wk. Will I get any help taking him to court? The csa just write to him, in the meantime me and my kids live hand to mouth.

dignity 10/05/2017 at 10:24 am

My ex stop paying for my eldest child believing he'd left education. He is in fact 16 yrs at full time college.
We had a court order since 2013 which I have now passed on to the Child maintenance options (C.S.A) as I cannot risk my ex just stopping the payments as he sees fit, without giving me any notification.
He believes he's in the right and claims he has a letter from the court (for his own records) I have rang the courts, they have no record of this so called letter.
I would like to know how to claim back the other half that he did not pay in March for my eldest son.
As the courts and the C.M O. cannot help me resolve this and I have had no maintenance since end of March , the next payment will be end of May.

ChildSupportLaws Editor 09/05/2017 at 10:41 am

Child maintenance is not and should not be based upon your circumstances - child maintenance is based solely upon your child's father's earnings. Whether you work or not, or who you choose to live with is irrelevant to the amount the father of your child should pay in order to support his son. CMS works on the basis of the amount of tax he pays to HMRC. Dependent upon his business, he can offset earnings to expenses which can make it more difficult for the non-paying parent. However, whether he has had a nasty experience or not with CMS is not your concern. Your concern is to remove his efforts to control and ensure he pays towards the day-to-day needs of your child as every father who is earning a wage is legally bound to do. If he persists in trying to force you stick to his rules, a solicitor's letter outlining your child maintenance rights by law might do the trick. The decision you make is of course, up to you.

Cathy 08/05/2017 at 9:37 am

I would welcome advice from anybody with regards to an ex partner ( self employed, so usual difficulties there!) trying to control the amount of maintenance he pays. This would appear to be presenting itself in terms of how he wishes to amend a draft document before signing, so that if I commence work , find a partner and cohabit, in the future, that he will reduce the amount as he sees fit! It is a control issue, he has good earning potential , the amount he presently pays is above his assessed by maintenance amount, ( agreed verbally a year ago so I would not refer him to maintenance for assessment again/ yearly, as it was an unpleasant experience for him) so all mind games and punishment tactics.
Is there a way to deal with this effectively ? i do not want to live under the shadow of insecurity/ control. Do I just need to have his income assessed yearly? Or is there a more definitive way to achieve desired outcome and what is the procedure ?
Thank you

ChildSupportLaws Editor 04/05/2017 at 12:40 pm

A consent order is drawn up by a solicitor and sealed by a judge, which makes it legally binding. As a rule, a consent order is final. However, it can be reviewed through court if one person suspects there has been some dishonesty suspected i.e hidden finances/assets. Or where one party fails to tell the other party about a pay rise or new job offer. Also, if new events have occurred since the making of the order which are significant enough to invalidate the fundamental basis upon which the order was made.

D 03/05/2017 at 6:46 pm

Sam,
Thank you for the quick response.
After reviewing the papers it is in fact a 'consent order' signed off by the judge, not a court order.
Dose this change things or does the above message still apply?
Many thanks
D

SGF Editor 03/05/2017 at 11:24 am

@D I don't think the CMS will touch this if there is a court order in place. If she wants more money, she'll be told to apply back to court to vary the order. But I don't think court would allow her to re-apply unless there was a change in circumstances, i.e you'd had a big wage hike. The court don't usually let people apply to vary the order so close to the order being issued. Sam.

D 02/05/2017 at 9:59 pm

My ex wife has said she wishes to seek CMS payments despite us having a court order in place, which already gives her a healthy percentage of my wage. This sum was agreed by both parties and signed off by a judge less than 12 months ago. She says she now wants more money. Can the CMS over rule a court order?

ChildSupportLaws Editor 24/03/2017 at 1:46 pm

Yes, you can make a claim for child maintenance from the non-resident parent as soon as you separate -

Jct126 24/03/2017 at 6:34 am

Hi can I apply for a consent order for child maintenance even though I have a decree nisi

Lincook 15/03/2017 at 10:19 pm

Hi I have 2 children to my ex partner and he earns 600 to a 1000 a week which goes In his bank account he's classes as self employed but works for a company. He's company put on his wage slip that he only earns 300 a week but it's more than that how does he get away with this? My children are only entitled to 47pound a week and he can't even stick to that payment...how do I get to the bottom of this and get a percentage of the right wages he is getting what my children deserve is this classed as dread by him and also his company ?

ChildSupportLaws Editor 08/03/2017 at 12:53 pm

You would have to seek legal advice about taking the matter to court. We can't advise whether this family member is acting rightly or wrongly, it would be up to the court to decide what it thinks is in the best interests of your child.

Bert 07/03/2017 at 6:35 pm

My 16 year old who lived with me and her mum (not married) was induced by a distant family member to go and live with her. Our daughter had been in trouble through use of social media including police involvement. On advice from police and the school we removed direct access through smartphone. The relative, my partners cousin, then enticed outlet daughter away by providing her with a phone. That relative is now making a claim for child benefit. She also claims many benefits and works 16 hrs. She admitted she is using our daughter for financial gain. Next will be child maintenance. CMS say we will have to pay her. Our daughter has been bribed and in our view is being groomed to provide extra benefits/ bigger house and then child maintenance. She has her own two young children . This seems immoral if not illegal to use our daughter in this way. Is there anything at all we can do. I am tempted to take this to court to get a judge to view the scenario.

ChildSupportLaws Editor 21/02/2017 at 11:16 am

The Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Order (REMO) Unit helps to register and enforce child maintenance orders internationally, this may be more helpful and less costly than court.

MumNeedsHelp 20/02/2017 at 10:31 am

Can someone advise me how to go about, and the possible cost, of a child maintenance order please? I was never married to my sons father, who lives in Sydney, Australia, and an added complication is he is not on the birth certificate as he lived over there when my son was born 4 years ago, although he did ask for a paternity test when he visited last year as he was to discredit his son as he hadn't told his latest girlfriend about him, anyway the test confirmed he is the father so he has no argument there. I have looked online and can find that I need to apply for a court order as the father lives abroad, but can't seem to find anymore information on how I go about a court order and how much it can cost.

ChildSupportLaws Editor 06/02/2017 at 10:36 am

The Child Maintenance Service cannot overrule a court order. If your partner wishes to for the assessment to go through CMS, then he would have to refer the matter back to court to ask for a variation of the order. You can see how much he should be paying whichAlso, if your partner's ex threatens to/ or stops him seeing the kids, he may wish to ask a solicitor to write a letter to his ex explaining that child maintenance and child access have no bearing on each other (as children cannot be used as weapons in child maintenance disagreements), as well as to seek some legal advice to explore his options.

ladypebbles 05/02/2017 at 8:28 am

Hi, my partner had a consent order to settle access and child maintenance as part of his divorce settlement. In May it has been one year so we can apply to the CMS to have this reassessed as I understand it. The amount was settled originally at £400 total, with extra expenses (which we consider to be big school trips, passports, swimming lesson etc) to be agreed by both parties in advance with one month notice. Originally he paid £480 but was struggling to afford it, so reduced it to £440 then again to the £400. The final time was partly financial as he had to set up in a new house with space for them to stay as they have shared custody, but also as she kept presenting him with demands for payments such as medicines, haircuts, designer clothes. We have fitted them out with all the clothes etc they need here and have told her we do out own christmas/birthdays but she also wanted £100 towards each birthday party, which we refused after going to one where we were completely ignored. He has also paid her for extras such as passports but she has yet to apply for these. Being very frustrated with all of this, he has decided to refer it to the CMS and offered to continue his salary sacrifice of £80 per month towards her childcare but she has refused to entertain this and is using emotional blackmail telling him he is taking money out of their mouths, although last year she had 4 luxury holidays abroad and never took the kids away once. This is without even knowing what the CMS will decide he should be paying! we cant budget with these constant demands for money, which are never agreed, only given, and if we suggest a cheaper option, we are laughed at - for example second-hand school jumpers from a close family friend in perfect condition. That is why we want one set amount, and any extra money we have can be spent on them here, or put aside to save for them, which we have told her. Is a ny of that unreasonable?

She also says she will consult a lawyer now and we are concerned what will happen - especially if she will stop him seeing the kids, which he already has more than the agreed amount, so it would be very upsetting for him and them. Where do we stand if she refuses to accept what the CMS says? Is it likely to go to court and if so, what can we do to try an avoid it as we do not want the children to have to be in the middle of that.

Preety 27/01/2017 at 12:08 pm

Hi

We have a Court Order Consent for child maintenance. I have two children aged 10 and 12. I divorced my husband after years of domestic violence and verbal harassment. He refuses to communicate with me regarding the children, he doesn't reply to texts, emails and phone calls. I paid for mediation before and he refused to attend any meetings.

So far he has been regular on the maintenance money but he is a month overdue and because I work full time I am not entitled to legal aid. How can I enforce the Court Order without paying a solicitor? I have contacted CMS, Child Maintenance Options already and they cannot help me because it was a court order.

Loopylou 05/01/2017 at 9:32 pm

Hi
My ex and I have a court order for him to pay maintenance until our son is 17. After a year he went to the casa to change the amount. Our son is now 17. Does he have to stop paying or will he have to continue until the law states 20 in full time education?

ChildSupportLaws Editor 21/12/2016 at 12:48 pm

Unless your ex is working and paying tax via the HMRC, then he will not be responsible for paying child maintenance as child maintenance is based upon the non-resident parent's earnings. I can only suggest you contact HMRC again as son as he begins work.

michaela 20/12/2016 at 9:32 pm

My daughter is 5 her dads never paid maintenance when i contact csa then cms when it changed hands he quit his job he seems to think the money is for me or he doesn't trust itd get spent on our daughter so i suggested maybe he could buy her what she needs as she needs it and he still refused im just wondering whether or not court would be my next step? We have a court order in place for his contact twice a fortnight. Thank you

ChildSupportLaws Editor 04/11/2016 at 2:05 pm

Every parent has the basic responsibility to provide for their child up until the age of 16, when they are legally allowed to leave school and get a job. After this age, it depends what your child chooses to do. If they continue in full-time non-advanced education not higher than A-level equivalent, for at least 12 hours a week, then your maintenance payments will continue until your child finishes or until they turn 20. Therefore, I'm afraid your ex would be able to take the matter back to court if you stop paying, as you will be in breach of the court order and liable for arrears. However, your son should be in government approved education and still in receipt of child benefit for you to keep paying, If his course does not comply with those listed and/or child benefit has stopped, then you too can stop.

Cb594 03/11/2016 at 8:09 pm

Advice please. Consent order issued to me in 2001 to pay maintenance for my son. He is nearly 19 now and i have never missed a payment( about 35k in total). It states reaches 17 or finishes full time education. My son is now doing another college course and wont finish this one until he is over 20. I have had enough and want to stop paying when he is 19. If the ex has her way she will keep him in college until he is 40.
I havent spoken to her about this yet as she will kick off.
Anyone know where i stand.

Adie 13/10/2016 at 1:50 pm

Hi

I'm from Ireland and have the justice department here working with the uk authorities , my ex moved to the uk when our son was four months old ,I have an Irish court order seeking €25 a week .

Do you know how long it takes to make a decision and how long it takes to process ?

Thank you

Kap77 10/10/2016 at 1:59 pm

Hi
My hubby pays his ex maintenance each month, when they got divorced they set an amount in divorce in line with CSA, she then got a lawyer (lives in Europe) and demanded more. My hubby increased this to her request. She is now demanding more inline with Düsseldorf table. He has refused as on top of her payments he pays £500 each holiday to fly his children across plus school expenses. What are his options?

Dave 01/10/2016 at 6:58 pm

Cms or csa tactics are heavy handed
I paid as a standing order for ten payments they said I could set up a direct payment plan offer was made an accept then refused and a doe of twice the amount was take. Out of my living income
They said it was fair of them to garnish my wages to the tune of £400 because I was a bad payer ?
Can I provide proof that I paid after the fact of a doe ?
And hr in work gave me doe statements
Mad system then informed that £400 a month for 12 months out of a 13,500 net wage was balanced
No housing costs food clothing no nothing
They have said we have done nothing wrong
My bill is £33 a week I offered 20 a week so I can still toto work keep my home collect my children
Said no and it's 54 a week and arrears it now £70 a week for two children ???
When I was only £100 in arrears
A report was written in 2005 stating that csa cms are just shambolic and 11 years later no change
Parents should pay but not with threats of prison loss of liberty or no contact or limited contact stupid
Kids need fathers and fathers need their kids
It's that simple so stealing a persons living wage to give profit for a defunked system is stupid and lacks common sense to put the parent out of a child's life over this criminal process
We should pay but at a reasonable amount that keeps people in empolyment and housed so the state does not have to pay out
Commons sense but lacks profit for cms and the system that does not communicate with each other and a doe at a rate that puts extreme hardship and say suck it up and get on with it
Process of stealing for profit is not about ending child poverty if making a parent excluded form

ChildSupportLaws Editor 18/08/2016 at 12:24 pm

Yes, if your ex is in breach of the court order you can take the matter back to court to have the order enforced. If you wish the order to be financially re-assessed, which after 10 years you will be eligible, I advise you to do this at the same time. Dependent upon your ex's situation, hopefully the courts will re-issue it with an incremental re-evaluation of the cost of living and also the arrears. Please, be aware that if your ex's financial situation has come down since the order was issued the courts will also take this into consideration. However, if this is the case, your ex should have applied for a variation hemself.

Put upon 17/08/2016 at 7:49 pm

I have a child maintenance order as part of my divorce in 2006 and my ex is supposed to pay a fixed amount about a year and a half ago he started to pay me less, can he do this and if I take him to court will I win? Not only has it not gone up with the cost of living as it is supposed to, it has gone down!

ChildSupportLaws Editor 09/08/2016 at 2:17 pm

There is no point taking the matter to court (which will cost more than the CMS/CSA to implement). With regards to the CMS, it is up to the paying parent to pay the 20% fee on top of their regular child maintenance payment, while receiving parents have a 4% fee deducted. If your ex has missed a payment, the CMS/CSA can still enforce missed payments.

Bec23 06/08/2016 at 7:43 pm

Hi, I have a question. My ex didn't start paying child support until my son was nearly two year old. We had an agreement of £200 a month and now he isn't on time with his payments or he is only paying me half saying that he can't afford anymore. I'm struggling to look after my son and my ex doesn't want anything to do with him. I want an agreement in place but the CSA take too much of a share of the money for me to want to go through them. Can I take him straight to court? Or would you advise another course of action? Thank you.

ChildSupportLaws Editor 20/04/2016 at 11:24 am

Much depends on why the CSA have not been able to get the money from him. For instance if your ex was not working through this time, or was self-employed, then if the CSA can't extract the money because of his lack of earnings, then there is little chance of the court doing so either. If he quits his job as a result, there is also little you can do here. I can only suggest you seek legal advice to see whether you may be able to take him to court.

Easytiger 19/04/2016 at 7:22 am

Hi I'd like to ask my sons dad is doin everything he can to not pay maintenance we went through him paying me directly that didn't work,went through him paying csa that didn't work now there takin it from his wages which I should receive my first payment in June...he owes at lot of backdated money going as far back as 08 can I take him to court to get this money..if csa take too much he rings me shouting down the phone his gf works he's a money grabber and doesn't wanna pay for his son he does have other kids with other women...he will also quit his job just so he doesn't have to pay....pls help

Mother 09/04/2016 at 2:51 pm

My son's father has given up work & does not sign on any more. He has been married for 2 1/2 years & hasn't paid his maintenance for his son. Will they take into consideration his wife's earnings as he is there with her 3 children & not supporting his own. She works full time.

ChildSupportLaws Editor 23/12/2015 at 1:40 pm

You're welcome. Hope you manage to sort it out.

ChildSupportLaws Editor 23/12/2015 at 10:31 am

The link I have given you in the last reply gives the different stages you can go through if you are not satisfied with the Complaints Resolution Team, resulting in the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Prior to this you would need to take it to the Complaints Review Team, and then the Independent Case Examiner as laid out in the article.

Dan 22/12/2015 at 3:15 pm

Hi,
Thanks for the response I made a complaint last month to the agency and they just said I appreciate you are stressed about the long delay but a new order has been put in place via attachment of earnings so we have to wait 4 his next payment date then allow 5/10 working dYs to allow the payment to clear then to pay me.
This has been going on since summer that they put the new order in place but the last time I received money was last year November. So that's why I wanted to go via the court as the advisor put me through to their manager but I just feel they are fobbing me off and saying it's not their responsibility as they can't do anything until the payment comes through.

Please advise me of my next step.

ChildSupportLaws Editor 21/12/2015 at 12:53 pm

Have you complained? If not, you can do this in the first instance via whichI hope this helps.

Dan 19/12/2015 at 3:58 am

Hi,
I have a 13 year old and am a single parent. I have been getting money from my daughters dad through the child support agency since 2008 on and off but have not received a payment from him since last year November 2014. The CSA have been writing to me every month with a new payment schedule of what they are going to take from my daughter's father by attachment of earnings, every month till now the date keeps changing and we have received nothing. If they are taking it from his wages direct why is it taking so long as I'm sure he is getting paid each month. They sent us a statement from 2008 till present and it says he owes us £5,000 plus that he is behind in maintenance payments.
I am getting pretty annoyed now and would like to take court action against him as I feel the CSA are useless. They say they are in favour of the parent with care but we haven't received a penny for a year plus he has a backdated amount going back to 2008, clearly they are struggling to put a secure order in place. It's unfair on me that I have to struggle to find money and my child goes without because her dad is too selfish to play his part financially.

Sweete 28/10/2015 at 7:20 pm

Hi I wonder if anyone can help my ex husband has be hiving his money into his pension for years so it doesn't have to be paid to me. The csa rang to say they although he had had a very good pay rise and has a good job he is putting a very very high % in his penion.

Em 11/09/2015 at 6:04 pm

Hi I have 5 children with my ex husband although 3 of them are grown up now he has never paid for them but I still have 2 children aged 13 and 12 and he still refuses to pay or help me towards there schooling or even clothing them I'm a loan parent and I work part time and I struggle, I have tried CSA and they say they can not track him, he works and when I ask for his help he just blanks me, I don't see why he should get away with living his life of luxury and leave me to struggle, I would like to take him to court but I'm frightened as I'm on my own, please help me and give me some advice, many thanks

ChildSupportLaws Editor 03/06/2015 at 10:24 am

@Sharon - if you don't want to follow it up through the courts, as suggested in the article, you could talk to Child Maintenance Options and it could follow up on your behalf. It will cost, but it may be worth it rather than receiving no maintenance at all. You can access Child Maintenance Services via whichI hope this helps.

Sharon 31/05/2015 at 10:11 am

Hello help my ex has paid no child maintenance for 6 years I believed he had left the country and could not track him down recently I saw a Facebook photo showing him with his family in the local area what can I do ?????

bobby 03/10/2014 at 5:56 pm

My husband and I got separated January 2012, when my daughter was 3 months old. I haven't revceived a penny from him for child maintanance since. I contacted the CSA, but they claim that can not find him, he doesn't work or he is not on benefits. I have decided now to apply for a financial order. What will happen if the court can not trace him aither? Could you tell me how much child maintanance award me with in those circumstances ?

johnbee 14/10/2012 at 7:13 pm

The article is incorrect. Child support payments do not necessarily end at age 19, but can continue longer. That means that they very often do continue because of course the person says that they are in full time education.

watermelon45 12/06/2012 at 8:58 pm

The NRP refuses to pay child support since he resigned from his job overseas. His has plenty money in his bank account as he did earn £45K a year tax free. He maintains his lifestyle and is of the opinion that if I don't work I don't have to pay child support. He owns his own property and a car.

I am dependant on ESA benefit and am now in debt but I cant get him to pay a penny as he says I will get money when he is paid when he gets another job.

What can I do?

HJ 14/05/2012 at 2:41 pm

I am separated from my husband who is an American citizen living in the USA. How do I get a maintenance order in the UK that can be enforced over there?

Dw 04/04/2012 at 12:39 pm

Hi there I put a claim in a few months back as my sons father has no contact what so ever, I am struggling to make ends meet and I know I am entitled to something from him. I cannot get in contact with him about this' I gave the lady on the phone as much detail as possible but she basically said no! Can you help me ?????

Tori 16/02/2012 at 12:43 pm

Very helpful to me as my little girls dad joined families need fathers and took me to court to have more access than twice a week, Even though he has never ever paid 1p towards child maintanance, This site is great for help and advise. Just hope it works.

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