How Much Is Maintenance For 1 Child In Ireland?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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one child, you'll pay

12% of your gross weekly income

. two children, you'll pay 16% of your gross weekly income. three or more children, you'll pay 19% of your gross weekly income.

How much is maintenance per child in Ireland?

At present, the District Court can award any amount up to €500 per week for a spouse/civil partner, and

€150 per week

for each child. If sums greater than these amounts are being sought, you will need to apply to the Circuit Court.

How does child maintenance work in Ireland?

Under Irish law

both parents have a duty to financially maintain their dependent children up to the age of 18, or up to the age of 23 if the child is in full time education

. In many cases, informal arrangements are made between parents but if this is not possible mediation is one route to try and reach an agreement.

What should child maintenance be paid?

Child maintenance covers the cost of the everyday care of the child, such as

food, clothes, and housing

. Expenses such as school fees do not fall under child maintenance – parents who are getting a divorce can make a “Family Based Arrangement” to deal with costs like this.

How much should a dad pay for one child?

On the basic rate, if you're paying for: one child, you'll pay

12% of your gross weekly income

. two children, you'll pay 16% of your gross weekly income.

How do you calculate child maintenance?

In the below example,

each child will be allocated 25% percent of the total expense shared by the three members of the household

. 25% for Child 1 + 25% for Child 2 + 50% for Adult = 100% of household expense.

Does a father legally have to pay child maintenance?

Arranging child maintenance

When possible, you should make sure your child is looked after by having an effective maintenance arrangement in place.

Both parents are legally responsible for the financial costs of bringing up their children

, even parents who don't live with their children.

Does my ex have to pay half the mortgage and child support?

Married: If you are married to the child's parent then it does not matter who owns the family home.

If the does not cover the mortgage payments and household bills, your ex-spouse could apply for spousal maintenance.

What happens if child maintenance is not paid?


CMS can take you to court over unpaid child maintenance

. They can apply for a court order to take legal action. This is a ‘liability order'. If the court grants the order, CMS can then legal action against you.

How do I get sole custody of my child in Ireland?

  1. A relative of the child.
  2. A parent's spouse, civil partner or cohabitant (for at least 3 years) with whom the child resides and where they shared parenting of the child for at least 2 years.

Do I have to pay child maintenance if it's 50 50 custody?


If you have shared care for at least 52 nights a year, you don't need to pay any child maintenance

.

Do I still pay child maintenance if my ex remarries?

The answer is no.

When parents divorce, the absent parent (“paying parent”) is obliged by law to pay child maintenance to the parent caring for the child (“receiving parent”)

.

Do I have to pay more than child maintenance?


Yes, you are not obliged to pay anything more than your child maintenance sum

. I would however encourage you to consider any requests on a case by case basis. Ultimately the money is to pay for your child and so you may want to pay a little extra on one-off occasions so that your child doesn't go without.

Do I have to pay child maintenance if I'm not on the birth certificate?

If an unwed father is not listed on the birth certificate, he has no legal rights to the child. This includes

no obligation to paying child support

and no rights to visitation to custody or child support. If no father is listed on the birth certificate, the mother has sole legal rights and responsibility of the child.

Can child maintenance be reduced?


If payments are reduced or stopped (unless agreed between you), you will be in breach of the court order

. If you genuinely can't meet payments because your income has fallen, you can ask the court to reduce the amount of child maintenance you need to pay.

How much is child benefit a month?

Child Benefit can help you with the costs of your children. It's usually paid every 4 weeks. If you're eligible you'll get

£21.80 a week for your first child and £14.45 a week for any children after that

.

How do you win a maintenance case?

  1. Capable of working ( Add the info past and present job details )
  2. Well Qualified ( add the info of her education )
  3. Prima Face Case.
  4. Approach the Court with Unclean Hand.
  5. Deserted to Husband without sufficient cause.

What happens if a father Cannot pay maintenance?

Parents are required to pay maintenance until a child is self-supporting. The court determines how much a child needs. If maintenance isn't paid,

the court can take the money from the maintenance payer's salary, their investment account, auction their property or issue a warrant of arrest

.

What should I bring to maintenance court?


Proof of physical work and residential address

. list of your expenditure e.g. water and lights bill, till slips for groceries, school expenses; medical and travel receipts, clothing accounts, etc., Provide the copy of the maintenance court order if there is a maintenance court order against you in another court.

How long does a father have to pay child maintenance?

If child maintenance has been paid under a Child Maintenance Service Agreement, then the law states that maintenance will be paid until:

The child is 16 years old

. The child is 20 years old if they continue in full-time education to the end of A- levels.

How can I get child maintenance from my ex?

If you and your ex-partner can't agree child maintenance payments between you, you can

contact the Child Maintenance Service (CMS)

. They'll work out how much child maintenance should be paid. If you want them to, they can also arrange for the money to be paid. There's usually a charge for using the CMS.

Is child support mandatory?

By law,

all parents have a duty to support their children financially

. A parent who doesn't have day-to-day care of their child must pay maintenance to the parent who does.

Do child maintenance take debts into account?


Any Child maintenance payment you make, weekly or monthly, will have been taken into account on your essential budget

before working out what payments you can afford to your debt solution.

Are mortgage payments included in child maintenance?


Some lenders will take into account 100% of child maintenance

. However, some lenders will treat the income as secondary income which means that they would only take 50-60% of the maintenance payments into account when deciding how much they could lend. While other lenders won't take it into consideration at all.

Does paying child maintenance affect getting a mortgage?

Answer:

Child support payments do not directly impact your ability to get a mortgage

; instead, it all depends on whether your income qualifies you for one, our experts say. When a lender is considering you for a loan, one of the most important factors is your debt-to-income ratio.

Leah Jackson
Author
Leah Jackson
Leah is a relationship coach with over 10 years of experience working with couples and individuals to improve their relationships. She holds a degree in psychology and has trained with leading relationship experts such as John Gottman and Esther Perel. Leah is passionate about helping people build strong, healthy relationships and providing practical advice to overcome common relationship challenges.