One of the key considerations for separating parents is how to provide ongoing financial support for children. One method is child support, also known as child maintenance. Child maintenance can make a real difference to children as it can help pay for things like clothing, food and other essentials. It can also help to keep both parents involved with their children's lives. It's also important to remember that paying child maintenance for your child is a legal responsibility.

Under the child support legislation, parents are given the title of parent with care (PWC) or non-resident parent (NRP). This is dependent on who the child normally lives with, child support rules still require one parent to be the PWC and the other to be the NRP. Child support is money paid by the NRP to the PWC to help provide for a child’s financial needs. It may also be paid to another carer such as a grandparent or a guardian, who the child normally lives with.

A parent with care or a non-resident parent can apply to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to work out child support and set up arrangements for payment. When a parent with care, or their current partner, claims Universal Credit or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, their claim will also be treated as an application for child maintenance. It is possible to ask the CMS to deal with your child maintenance case even where you have previously made a private arrangement, although some restrictions may apply.

A person can elect a representative to act on their behalf in respect of their Child Maintenance case. That person may receive all the correspondence that would normally be sent to the client, act on their behalf in respect of reporting changes of circumstance and make an application for maintenance in the first instance. Child maintenance is something that can be discussed and agreed between you and your ex-partner in mediation.

For more information about mediation visit the How2divorce website at how2divorce.com

Debra Stevens LL.b (Hons) LL.M
Accredited Family Mediatior