Overview of child support 

Having children is, as they say, a lifelong commitment. Regardless of whether or not the parents stay together (or ever were in a relationship at all) they have a responsibility to support their children. The parents are free to decide between themselves on how child maintenance is paid (or, in some cases, not paid).

Where the child lives with one parent or other relative or guardian, the other parent may pay financial support to the upkeep of that child. This is known as child maintenance.

Child maintenance

Child maintenance is regular financial support paid by the non-resident parent towards the living costs of their child. The money goes to the guardian or parent who looks after the child.

How much financial support is made is a matter for the parents or parent and guardian to decide. There is no need to involve anyone else. This is the case, even where the parent or guardian is in receipt of benefits (although they may have to inform the benefits office about such financial arrangements).

It may be a good idea to seek advice on, or to research your rights in the area of child maintenance. Both parties will then be better informed in their choice as to how much financial support should be made, in what form, and what to do if the payments stop.

Child Maintenance Options is an organisation that offers free and impartial advice and information, and can be visited at www.cmoptions.org. It runs a freephone helpline on 0800 988 0988.

It is possible to ask a court to turn an agreement on child maintenance into an official ruling known as a ‘consent order’.

Parental responsibility

A mother automatically has ‘parental responsibility’—rights and duties towards a child—over their child. A father has ‘parental responsibility’ if they were married to the mother when the child was born, or were registered as the father on the child’s birth certificate and the child was born after 1 December 2003. There are also legal processes through which an unmarried father can acquire ‘parental responsibility’, for example, by marrying the mother, getting a court order, or making a ‘parental responsibility agreement’ with the mother.

‘Parental responsibility’ carries rights and responsibilities, for example, the right to decide on a child’s medical treatment and religion. 

Child Support Agency

An alternative to making a private agreement on maintenance is to ask the Child Support Agency (CSA) to help.

The CSA will work out how much maintenance should be paid, using a complex formula that computes income and responsibilities.

The CSA has powers to trace errant parents and compel them to pay up. They can use bailiffs and debt collection agencies. Unfortunately, tracking these non-payers down and forcing them to cough up is a difficult business. According to the CSA, a third of non-resident parents were non-compliant with orders to pay in December 2008.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

The law is broadly the same throughout the UK—parents are free to make private arrangements, which they then have an option of turning into an official court ruling. They also have an option of referring their case to the CSA for help.

In Northern Ireland, the role of the CSA is carried out by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division.

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