| Gross weekly income Rate Weekly amount | Unknown or not provided Default £38 for 1 child, £51 for 2 children, £61 for 3 or more children | Below £7 Nil £0 | £7 to £100, or if the paying parent gets benefits Flat £7 | £100.01 to £199.99 Reduced Calculated using a formula |
|---|
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 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
.
What should child maintenance cover UK?
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.
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.
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.
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 child support does not cover the mortgage payments and household bills, your ex-spouse could apply for spousal maintenance.
Does my ex have to pay half the mortgage and child support UK?
Does My Ex Have to Pay Half the Mortgage?
If you have joint mortgage ownership with your estranged partner, your ex will still be required to pay a portion, if not half
. This is irrespective of whether they live in the house or not.
Can I go after my ex husband's new wife for child support UK?
There are no grounds for reducing child maintenance on the basis that your ex-wife is living with a new partner
. Your obligation to pay child maintenance continues regardless of your ex-wife's circumstances.
If both parents equally share the care of the children, then neither parent will make child maintenance payments or be responsible for child support arrangements
.
When can I stop paying child maintenance?
Maintenance does not stop at 18
Most people believe that maintenance stops when a child becomes a major. This is wrong in law. A parents' duty to support their child does not terminate when the child becomes a major,
when the child turns 18 years old
, but only when they become self supporting.
Who is the paying parent for child maintenance?
Child maintenance is money to help pay for your child's living costs. It's paid by
the parent who doesn't usually live with the child
to the person who has most day-to-day care of the child.
Does child maintenance affect child tax credits?
Receiving parent on benefits
If you are a receiving parent and get any social security benefits, you will be able to keep all child maintenance paid as it does not affect any of the benefits you claim.
It will also not affect any housing benefit or tax credits awards you receive
.
Does child maintenance affect Universal Credit 2021?
Will child maintenance payments affect Universal Credit?
No, this isn't changing
. Any child maintenance payments you receive will not affect the amount of Universal Credit you are entitled to.
Is childcare included in child maintenance?
Usually maintenance is a contribution to costs for the parent with the main care of children, made by the non-resident parent. There are no rules for this;
sometimes two people may agree a weekly or monthly cash payment into a bank account and others might agree regular payment of a particular cost such as childcare
.
We call it ‘shared care' if a child stays overnight with the paying parent+. If shared care happens for an average of one night a week or more (
at least 52 nights a year
), this can affect child maintenance payments.
Can you go to jail for not paying maintenance?
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 can be deducted from child maintenance?
- the cost of keeping in regular contact with the child or children you pay child maintenance for – for example, the cost of fuel to travel between your home and the child's home.
- costs to support children who live with you if they have a disability or a long-term illness.
How can I avoid paying CSA?
- Creating complex financial arrangements that are hard to keep track of due to self-employment.
- Putting a businesses in another name to distort personal wealth.
- Opening a limited company to make money unavailable.
Does child maintenance count towards mortgage?
The truth is that it depends on the lender you approach;
a small number of lenders will allow 100% of a borrowers income to come from child maintenance payments
, whilst other lenders either accept 50% of income from child support or refuse to acknowledge this as income at all, making it very difficult for divorcees to …
Is mortgage part of 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.
