Child Maintenance: How It Is Calculated, Paid and Enforced

Reviewed 30 October 2026 · England and Wales · General information, not legal advice

Parents can agree maintenance privately or ask the Child Maintenance Service, which applies a formula to the paying parent's gross income (12%, 16% or 19% for one, two or three or more children) and collects and enforces payment for a fee.

Child maintenance is the regular payment a parent makes towards a child's everyday costs when the child lives mainly with the other parent. Parents can agree it between themselves, or ask the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to work it out using a fixed formula: for most paying parents, 12% of gross weekly income for one child, 16% for two and 19% for three or more, reduced where the child stays overnight regularly. The CMS can also collect the money and enforce payment, for a fee, with powers that run from taking money straight from wages to removing a driving licence or passport. This guide explains who pays and for how long, the three ways to arrange it, the calculation, variations, enforcement, the reforms expected in 2027/28, and when the court rather than the CMS decides.

Who pays, for which children and for how long

Both parents are legally responsible for supporting their children whether or not they were married or ever lived together. The paying parent is the one the child does not mainly live with; the receiving parent provides the main day-to-day care, and can be a grandparent or other carer. Maintenance is payable for a child under 16, or under 20 if they are in approved education or training, meaning full-time non-advanced study such as A levels or an equivalent course, not university. The CMS treats a child as qualifying while Child Benefit is payable for them, so payments end when that stops.

The CMS operates in England, Wales and Scotland, where a child aged 12 or over can apply in their own right, and Northern Ireland runs a parallel service with the same rules. The CMS can only deal with a paying parent who lives in the UK or who works abroad for a UK employer, the civil service, the armed forces or similar. Where the paying parent lives abroad otherwise, maintenance has to be pursued through the courts under reciprocal enforcement arrangements, which is slow and needs legal advice.

Three ways to arrange it, and the fees

1. A family-based arrangement. You agree the amount and how it is paid, with no official involvement. It is free, flexible and can cover things the CMS cannot, such as paying for school trips or clubs directly, but it is not legally enforceable. GOV.UK's child maintenance calculator gives the formula figure as a benchmark. Write the agreement down and review it each year.
2. Direct Pay through the CMS. The CMS calculates the amount and the parents arrange payment between themselves. There is no charge, and the receiving parent need not share bank details with the other parent. If payments are missed, the CMS can move the case to Collect and Pay.
3. Collect and Pay. The CMS calculates, collects and passes on the money and takes enforcement action when payments stop. The paying parent pays 20% on top of the maintenance and the receiving parent loses 4% of what is paid, so on £100 a week of maintenance the payer hands over £120 and the receiving parent gets £96. It is used where the paying parent is unlikely to pay or has failed to pay under Direct Pay.

The £20 fee to apply to the CMS was abolished on 26 February 2024, so applying is free, and a receiving parent can apply at any time, including to replace a private arrangement that has broken down.

This structure is about to change. In June 2025 the government confirmed, after consultation, that Direct Pay will be abolished and every case will move into a single service in which the CMS monitors payments. Receiving parents will pay 2% instead of 4%; paying parents who pay on time will pay 2%; only those who fail to pay will face the 20% charge, lifted after six months of compliance, and parents paying through benefit deductions will be exempt from it. Existing Direct Pay cases will get three months' notice. The change needs primary legislation and is expected to take effect in 2027/28; a House of Lords committee urged a rethink in late 2025, but the government confirmed the plan in early 2026. Until then the current fees apply.

How the Child Maintenance Service works out the amount

The formula comes from the Child Support Act 1991 and its regulations, and the Department for Work and Pensions publishes a step-by-step guide. In outline:

1. Gross weekly income. The CMS takes the paying parent's gross annual income from HMRC for the most recent complete tax year, before tax and National Insurance but after pension contributions, and converts it to a weekly figure. The receiving parent's income is ignored. The paying parent's current figures are used instead only if they are at least 25% higher or lower than the HMRC figure.
2. Other children. If other children live with the paying parent and they or their partner receive Child Benefit for them, gross income is reduced by 11% for one, 14% for two or 16% for three or more before the rate is applied.
3. The rate. Income under £7 a week attracts the nil rate. Income of £7 to £100, or receipt of certain benefits, attracts the flat rate of £7 a week. Income between £100.01 and £199.99 attracts the reduced rate: £7 plus 17%, 25% or 31% of income over £100 for one, two or three or more children. Income of £200 to £800 attracts the basic rate of 12%, 16% or 19%. Income between £800.01 and £3,000 attracts the basic plus rate: the basic percentages on the first £800 and 9%, 12% or 15% on the rest. Income above £3,000 a week is ignored.
4. Shared care. If the child stays overnight with the paying parent at least 52 nights a year, the amount for that child is reduced by one seventh for 52 to 103 nights, two sevenths for 104 to 155, three sevenths for 156 to 174, and one half plus a further £7 a week for 175 nights or more. Equal day-to-day care means no maintenance is payable.

A worked example: a parent earning £600 a week gross with two children who stay 60 nights a year pays 16% of £600, which is £96, reduced by one seventh to about £82 a week. Where the CMS cannot get income information it uses default rates of £38, £51 or £64 a week for one, two or three or more children. The figure is reviewed every year and in between only if income changes by 25% or more or the care arrangements change. The DWP has been reviewing the formula itself during 2026, but no change has been made.

Variations: when the formula is adjusted

Either parent can ask for a variation where the standard calculation gives an unfair result. A paying parent can claim special expenses of at least £10 a week for the cost of contact with the child, debts from the former relationship, the boarding element of boarding school fees, or payments on the mortgage of the former family home where the receiving parent still lives, as well as the costs of a disabled child in their household. A receiving parent can ask for the calculation to include unearned income of £2,500 a year or more, such as rent or dividends, notional income from assets worth £31,250 or more, or income the paying parent has diverted, for example by paying themselves a token salary from their own company. Decisions can be challenged by mandatory reconsideration and then appeal to the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal, which is where a solicitor or welfare rights adviser earns their fee.

Enforcement when payments stop

On Collect and Pay the CMS needs no court order for its first steps. It can make a deduction from earnings order requiring the employer to take maintenance and arrears from wages, and deduction orders taking regular payments or a lump sum from bank or building society accounts. A charge for each step is added to the debt.

For the heavier powers the CMS applies to the magistrates' court for a liability order confirming the debt. It can then instruct enforcement agents to seize goods, obtain a charging order over property and an order for sale, and finally return to court to ask for disqualification from driving or from holding a passport for up to two years, or committal to prison for up to six weeks. The court must consider disqualification before prison, and the CMS cannot seek both. The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 will let the CMS make liability orders itself without going to court, but ministers confirmed in early 2026 that the regulations to bring it into force were still being worked on. In practice the extreme sanctions are rare; deductions from earnings and bank accounts collect most arrears, and the CMS can continue to collect arrears after the child has grown up.

When the court, not the CMS, decides

The CMS has exclusive jurisdiction over basic maintenance for most children, so the family court cannot usually make a maintenance order unless the parents agree one. The exceptions:

• Consent orders. Parents who agree maintenance as part of a divorce settlement can include it in a consent order. Once the order has run for twelve months either parent can apply to the CMS instead, and the CMS figure then replaces it.
• Top-up maintenance where the paying parent's gross income exceeds £3,000 a week.
• School fees and the extra costs of a child's disability.
• Step-children treated as children of the family, and children whose paying parent lives abroad.
• Lump sums and housing for a child under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, which unmarried parents in particular rely on; see the rights of unmarried couples.

Maintenance for a former spouse is separate again and forms part of the financial settlement on divorce.

Getting help, costs and next steps

Most parents use the CMS without a solicitor: the application is free, the calculation is mechanical and the service handles collection. Legal advice is worth paying for where income is disputed or hidden, a variation or tribunal appeal is involved, the paying parent is self-employed or lives abroad, or a court application for top-up or Schedule 1 provision is realistic. Family law solicitors typically charge a fixed fee for an initial advice session and hourly rates for tribunal and court work; legal aid is confined to cases involving domestic abuse, and free help is available from Citizens Advice and the charity Gingerbread.

Compare family law solicitors in Newcastle upon Tyne or family law firms in Nottingham, and if the dispute is about more than money read how child arrangements orders work and who has parental responsibility. For the wider picture see what family law covers.

Frequently asked questions

Does child maintenance have to be paid if we share care 50/50?

Not through the CMS. Where the parents provide equal day-to-day care, neither is treated as the paying parent and no maintenance is calculated, even if one earns far more. Equal care means genuinely equal, not just equal nights; where nights are equal but one parent does most of the daily care, the CMS can still make a calculation. Parents can of course agree payments privately.

Is the receiving parent's income taken into account?

No. The formula looks only at the paying parent's gross income, the number of children, other children in the paying parent's household and overnight stays. A receiving parent on a high salary receives the same formula amount as one on benefits. The only way the receiving parent's circumstances feed in is through a court application, for example for top-up maintenance, where the judge considers both households.

What if the paying parent is self-employed or hides income?

The CMS uses HMRC figures, so a self-employed parent is assessed on declared profits, which can lag real earnings by a year or more. A receiving parent who believes income is understated can request a variation for diverted income, unearned income over £2,500 a year or assets over £31,250, and the CMS has a Financial Investigations Unit. Evidence such as lifestyle, company accounts or property matters, and a solicitor can help assemble it.

Can child maintenance be backdated?

A CMS calculation runs from the date the CMS first contacts the paying parent about the application, not from separation, so delay in applying costs money that cannot be recovered. Unpaid amounts under a purely private agreement are not enforceable through the CMS either. Once a calculation exists, arrears accrue from its effective date and remain collectable, including after the child has grown up.

Does maintenance go down if the paying parent has another child?

Yes, but it does not stop. Where other children live with the paying parent and Child Benefit is paid for them, the CMS reduces gross income by 11% for one child, 14% for two or 16% for three or more before applying the rate, and the maintenance for each set of children is worked out on the same footing. A new partner's income is never included in the calculation.

Do I still have to pay if I am not allowed to see my child?

Yes. Maintenance and contact are legally separate: the obligation to support a child does not depend on time spent with them, and withholding payment is not a lawful response to contact being refused. If you are prevented from seeing your child, the remedy is mediation or an application for a child arrangements order, and the cost of travelling for contact can be claimed as a variation.

Related guides

• Child Arrangements Orders: How the Court Decides Where Children Live
• Parental Responsibility: Who Has It and How to Get It
• Common Law Marriage Is a Myth: The Legal Rights of Unmarried Couples
• What Is Family Law?

This guide describes the law in England and Wales as at 30 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation; the law and the figures it quotes change, so check the position with a solicitor before acting. LawFirms.co.uk is a directory and does not provide legal services.