Although the Child Support Agency is readily able to calculate and distribute child maintenance to parents with care within the UK, problems arise when maintenance assistance is requested and the non resident parent lives abroad. In some cases the children and resident parent live in another country, and this also poses problems. The European Union however, are now aiming to bolster the rights of parents who are trying to collect child maintenance across all EU borders.

European Plans

Members of the European Union accept that they have to deal with the dilemma of what to do about absent parents who do not acknowledge their obligation to provide adequate support for their children. Absent parents leave their children to be supported by social welfare funds, when the responsibility of providing adequate financial assistance should be the parent’s responsibility.

Any non resident parent will no longer be able to leave the country in order to escape having to pay child maintenance support payments to their offspring. Common family law standards have been drafted by the EU, which also takes into consideration marriage, studying and working in another country. Under the EU laws a resident parent is able to take a claim to court and make a payment order enforceable in any EU country.

Common Ground

Continental legal systems ensure that it is within children’s rights to acquire a detailed summary of the non resident parent’s income and to demand payment through the parents’ employer. Failure to acquire maintenance funds by this method means the parent will have to go before the criminal courts. Because continental law and UK law, regarding child maintenance support, are similar a good collaborative relationship can exist, and can also ensure effective enforcement of child maintenance settlements.

The Maastricht Treaty also contributes to providing a legal framework for the protection of children’s rights.

Conclusions

Although the promotion of child welfare and the reduction of child poverty are the main objectives of the Child Support Agency (CSA), there are a number of differences to the way maintenance support is offered, in line with other EU countries.

The CSA is out of step with some of its EU counterparts but does provide more legal aid for children, and the settlement of disputes. Maintenance payments within the European Union therefore have to accommodate both methods of working and the current assessment of maintenance cases must be updated until a more suitable solution is found.

In order to provide the best level of child maintenance support European Union laws will have to combine and accommodate the UK’s Child Support Agency’s administrative solution ideas with the continental judicial civil law practice.

The ideal solution is to provide effective child support that is enforceable throughout the EU and is proficient in acquiring and collating information and distributing maintenance, regardless, and irrespective, of nationality, place of residence and circumstances. Common child maintenance payment enforcement could then provide a more effective service to all beneficiaries, whichever country they reside in.