The Child Maintenance Service opened in 2012 and now manages all new applications for a statutory arrangement. Child maintenance is usually paid by the non-resident parent to the resident parent and it is about providing help and support towards your child/children's everyday living costs. It includes things like food and clothes, and helping to provide a home for your child or children.
About the Child Maintenance Service
The Child Maintenance Service uses slightly different rules to the Child Support Agency. The CSA manages statutory arrangements set up before December 2013. The Child Maintenance Service encourages parents, if they can, to make an arrangement between themselves by agreeing the amount and type of child maintenance paid. This is known as a family-based arrangement. A child maintenance calculator can be accessed via the Child Maintenance Options website to work out how much the paying or receiving parent will pay or receive. It is good to use as a benchmark between parents to conduct their own assessment.
Answer a few questions about your situation and get a clear summary of your child maintenance rights and options.
Try our Child Support Rights Checker free, here on this site →When parents cannot organise payments between themselves
The statutory Child Maintenance Service is for separated parents who can't sort out child maintenance between themselves and, its assessors will only get involved if a parent asks them to. Providing accurate, up-to-date information relating to a claim enables CMS staff to process an application more easily. Without this information, the correct amount of maintenance payment cannot be worked out and processed. With Maintenance Direct and Direct Pay, the paying parent can pay the other parent directly, once a child maintenance amount has been calculated. A 20% collection fee on top of the usual child maintenance amount is added for paying parents using the Collect & Pay service. A 4% collection fee is deducted from their usual child maintenance amount for receiving parents using the Collect & Pay service. A £20 application fee is charged for either parent applying to the statutory scheme.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Child Maintenance Options
Child Maintenance Options is a free service provided on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions. Child Maintenance Options is separate from the Child Maintenance Service and is the first port of call when finding out which is the best way to make child maintenance arrangements. It can give free impartial information and support to help parents make informed choices and decisions. It can also give information about applying to the CMS statutory scheme and using Direct Pay and Collect & Pay.
The guidelines are set out on the Child Maintenance Options website and help answer any questions and concerns parents may have about making a maintenance claim. It also gives helpful advice on coping with separation and dealing with your emotions. As well as more practical elements such as taking control of your finances, housing rights and options and organising mediation. Information available also covers areas concerning tracing, maintenance calculation and dealing with disputes.
Where can I find the rules on how you appeal or what the process is? Its very worrying as the paying parent is now a pensioner. We had a private arrangement so now very difficult to get proof of payment after 12 plus years.
Thanks for your assistance
I need help
I'm being discriminated in excessive child payment
A deduction of earnings order of £295 they have taken £3200 in 11 payments
They have refused to be reasonable
That £295 is a reasonable amount to pay in support but 24% charge taken out and still £2000 on debt
When I've paid £4500 in 21 payments
They won't take it off doe for another 6 months
My child support was reduced from £55 to £33 being £22 contact costs
They have denied this
And £1500 in profit is legal
Their action against me has not been moral and if it's immoral it's illegal
I want to pay at a reasonable rate
But my living wage is not acceptable
Xmas holidays birthday parties or presents
Which is my children's basic needs also food is a basic need a home for them to be safe in is a basic need
I feel that their action against me is discrimination detrimental to my children and me
To be denied an income
To a pwc who is cocersive and controlling which also is a crime
So cms is criminal and not about children's basic needs it's about stealing homes contact money
Lack of respect dignity
Mis management mal practice losing forms that are about change of decision that would be fair and amerceable
But chikd reform laws are immoral and the action of financial abuse is common ground not common law
Kids should be provide for but not as a punishment through domestic abuse or abusive ex partners
Family law needs addressing
If the pwc Denys access then it child abuse
And they should be prosecuted and nrp awarded full custody because their action pwc won't change
So it's abuse and dishonest to be instructed by dishonesty to collect fraudulent payment that put fathers in hardship and the easy way is just to walk away
How is that a fair or democratic process for children of great British
Parents
it's a scam being used to demonise fathers
It's all a punishment lack of contact lack of earnings
Stress of not giving to children basic needs and rights
For children to love in filthy and neglected environment
Because that is the mainstream way
In modern woman
Who has no respect for themselves or others
Chikd support laws are an arse
Arrest me how is that my children's best interests ?
will the courts grant me maintenance for my son? and myself as im currently unemployed?
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