Child maintenance can make an important difference to a child’s well-being. The parent without the main day-to-day care of the child pays child maintenance to the other parent to help toward the child’s everyday living costs.
The two main options you can choose from for arranging a child maintenance agreement are:
- making a private arrangement with the other parent
- using the Child Support Agency (CSA) as the statutory maintenance service to calculate and collect maintenance for you
With an arrangement using the CSA, child maintenance is paid until the child reaches 16 years old, or until they reach 19 years old if they are in full-time education (not higher than A-level equivalent).
Child maintenance is normally arranged as a weekly, fortnightly or monthly payment. This payment is usually based on the income of the parent without the main day-to-day care.
In addition to these regular child maintenance payments, you can also choose to make payments 'in kind'. This is where the parent without the main day-to-day care pays for things directly, such as clothing, bills or school costs.
The Child Support Agency (CSA) can work out and collect child maintenance for you. For further details visit the Department for Work and Pensions link below or call 08457 133 133.
For further details on understanding more about your options, how maintenance effects your benefits and maintenance if your ex partner lives abroad please visit the directgov website and search ‘child maintenance’.
Contact us:
Families Information Service
2nd Floor, New Town House
Buttermarket Street
Warrington, WA1 2NJ
Tel: 01925 443131
Email: fis@warrington.gov.uk