As a firm, we specialise in dealing with child maintenance issues. We understand that each family is different and each child will have different requirements, so we work towards creating an agreement where the child is given a safe and stable environment to grow up in.
Child maintenance payments
When a family makes the sad decision to separate, it is almost a guarantee that child maintenance will be due for the children involved.
Child maintenance payments will be made to the parent that the child is living with until the child is out of full time education.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) – which has replaced the Child Support Agency (CSA) – can be an integral part of the process. They will establish how much the non-resident parent has to pay and then collect the payments from them.
To decide how much has to be paid for the child, the CMS will perform an assessment based on the questions answered during the application for child maintenance. They will take many things into account, including income, whether there are any other children to support and how many nights the child stays with the paying parent.
We can advise you on what kind of payment may be required and what factors they’ll take into account once we understand the family’s situation. Since the assessment depends on the answers given at the outset, we do recommend speaking to us before the CMS.
However, the CMS does not need to be involved. We can advise you how much should be due based on your situation as a family and other strains on your income and create an agreement with your ex-partner to that effect. We believe that negotiation can be the best option as we truly believe that if both sides can work out these arrangements, with our assistance, life can be easier for everyone involved.
However, if things become more difficult, we have considerable experience of dealing with cases where there is a dispute about the payments or the CSA/CMS assessment.
Contact us today to discuss your needs.
