Navigating the Child Maintenance Service - Frequently Asked Questions
In October 2025, the House of Lords Public Services Committee published a report into the Child Maintenance Service and potential reform. For any who have tried to navigate the Child Maintenance Service, either alone or with the assistance of solicitors, they will be aware that it is a minefield. Reform is awaited and we shall wait to see how and when that is to be effected.
In the meantime, I have explored below some frequently asked questions by those trying to work their way through the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).
Who is required to pay child maintenance?
There is a legal duty on each parent to maintain their child/children. This is provided for in Section 1 of the Child Support Act 1991.
Who can apply for child maintenance through the CMS?
Child maintenance can be applied for by either the paying non-resident parent or the person with care of the child. More often than not, the person with care of the child will be the one making the application.
In order for the CMS to have jurisdiction to make a calculation, there must be:
a. A qualifying child;
b. A person with care of the child; and
c. A non-resident parent. If parties share the day-to-day care of a child equally, there will be no non-resident parent and the CMS will not be able to make a calculation.
Generally, albeit there are some limited exceptions, the people at a-c above all need to be habitually resident in the UK for the CMS to be able to make the calculation.
When does child maintenance end?
Child maintenance is payable under the CMS until the later of:
- 31 August after the qualifying child turns 16 years old; or
- The child's 20th birthday if they continue to stay in approved education or training. If the child leaves approved education or training prior to their 20th birthday, it will come to an end at that point.
How is child maintenance calculated by the CMS?
There is an online calculator which can be used by anyone to work out how much child maintenance will be payable. This can be accessed here: Child Maintenance Calculator.
In making the calculation, the following elements are looked at:
1. The paying parent's gross income, up to a maximum of £156,000 per annum
The CMS often ask the paying parent what their gross income is. This can, inevitably, lead to difficulties. The CMS do have access to information from HMRC - either PAYE (which is often up-to-date) or self-assessment tax returns (which will provide details of income from the last tax year for which the returns were due).
If the paying party is self-employed, it is important to make sure this is known to the CMS and ask them to take into account all forms of income received by the paying parent - including rental income, dividend income, investment income, etc. They do not do this automatically.
The CMS can also take into account income from certain assets, provided they are worth more than £31,250 a year. In respect of any such assets, they apply a notional income of 8% of the asset value.
Deductions can also be made when calculating a paying parent's gross income, including for:
- Pension contributions;
- Costs involved in the child being able to spend time with the paying parent - travel costs, reasonable hotel costs; and
- The boarding school part of boarding school fees.
Once the paying parent's gross income is calculated, the CMS convert this into a weekly figure.
2. Depending on what the paying parent's gross weekly income figure is, the CMS look at the applicable rate. These are as follows:
| Gross weekly income | Rate | Weekly amount |
| Unknown or not provided | Default | £38 for 1 child, £51 for 2 children, £64 for 3 or more children |
| Below £7 | Nil | £0 |
| £7 to £100 or if the paying parent gets benefits | Flat | £7 |
| £100,01 to £199.00 | Reduced | Calculated using a formula |
| £200 to £3,000 | Basic | Calculated using a formula |
3. Whether the paying parent has to pay child maintenance for any other children
4. How much time the child(ren) spend with the paying parent. There is a reduction in the calculation based on how many nights are spent. If there is a court order, the court will look at how many nights the children are expected to spend with the paying parent as per the court order - this may not always reflect the reality:
| Expected number of overnight stays each year | Reduction to child maintenance for each child |
| 51 nights or less | No reduction |
| 52 to 103 nights | 14.29% |
| 104 to 155 nights | 28.57% |
| 156 to 174 nights | 42.86% |
| 175 nights or more | 50%, plus an extra £7 a week reduction |
The above tables are from the Gov.Uk website: Gov.UK - How child maintenance is worked out
The reduction in relation to overnight stays should be differentiated from the day to day care referred to above. If the day to day care is shared equally, there is no parent with care and so the CMS do not have jurisdiction to make an assessment.
The current calculation formula is one of the proposed areas of reform. The report notes that this formula has: “been in place for over two decades and is neither fair nor transparent. We believe it is outdated and does not reflect the structure of modern families”.
What if the CMS have got it wrong?
If the CMS have got the calculation wrong, either party can apply for a Mandatory Reconsideration of the calculation. This must be applied for within one month of receipt of the calculation.
If the CMS continue to get it wrong, either party can apply to appeal the calculation contained in the Mandatory Reconsideration Notice. Again, this must be applied for within one month of receipt of the Mandatory Reconsideration Notice. The CMS have 42 days to respond to any appeal. However, in practice it can take much longer.
The appeal will be heard by the First-Tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber). Their role is not to consider if the CMS got it wrong, but to effectively redo the calculation based on the information they have before them. This information can include business accounts, tax returns and other evidence provided to them. Parties need to be careful that they only provide evidence to the CMS that they are entitled to (i.e. not evidence that has been provided to them during the course of financial remedy/Schedule 1 proceedings over which there is an implied duty of confidentiality unless they have the permission of the court or the party whose information it is).
What if the paying parent does not pay?
If the paying parent does not pay, the receiving person can ask to be put on the Collect and Pay Scheme. This is when the CMS will collect the payments, and they have a wide range of powers to enable them to do so. The disadvantage with this is that there is a fee. The fee is calculated on the basis of a percentage of the amount of child maintenance payable - 20% for the paying parent and 4% for the recipient party.
The House of Lords Public Services Committee report notes that: “Over one hundred thousand children are missing out on maintenance payments every quarter. Just under half of children in families in Collect and Pay arrangements—where the Government can take enforcement action— receive no maintenance, and more than half of paying parents in Collect and Pay do not pay the full maintenance due.” The report notes a number of reasons for this, including the paying parent not having sufficient funds to pay the child maintenance (where for example payment is to be taken from benefits, but other benefit deductions are taken first) and the figure also includes children who are no longer living with the recipient parent but arrears are due.
One of the Government's reforms to the CMS system, to try and make it work better for those that use it, is to move to a system only of Collect and Pay, with lower fees. The House of Lords Public Services Committee report cautions against this however and raises concerns that "the removal of the Direct Pay service and transfer of all child maintenance cases to Collect and Pay, without further investment in staffing or CMS resources, will result in an already overstretched CMS delivering poorer results”.
What if the paying parent earns more than £156,000 (gross) per annum?
If the paying parent earns more than £156,000 gross per annum a year, the family court can be asked to consider the amount of child maintenance payable. In order for the family court to be able to do this:
a. The parties must agree that the family court should determine how much child maintenance is payable; or
b. An application has been made to the CMS for a ‘maximum assessment’, which the CMS have provided (Dickson v Rennie [2014] EWHC 4306 (Fam)) and the family court can then be asked to make an order for “top-up” child maintenance; or
c. There is no ‘non-resident parent’ as the parents equally share day to day care for the child(ren) and the CMS do not therefore have jurisdiction, as confirmed by HHJ Hess in the recent case of OS v DT [2025] EWFC 156.
The family court can calculate how much child maintenance should be payable using a number of different methods. In the case of James v Seymour [2023] EWHC 844 (Fam), Mr Justice Mostyn provided a calculation that can be used as a starting point.
Public Services Committee publish Child Maintenance Report
