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Child support鈥攋urisdiction

This Practice Note details the jurisdiction in relation to child support, via the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), and in limited circumstances via the courts. The courts may have jurisdiction to make or vary orders for maintenance for children, for example, where the payer鈥檚 income exceeds a specified amount and a top-up order may be made, or where a child has a disability or special needs. The statutory child support scheme is also considered. See also Practice Notes: Statutory child support scheme and Maintenance provision for children under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989.Regarding the jurisdiction of the courts generally to make orders in financial order proceedings on divorce or dissolution, see Practice Note: Financial proceedings鈥攐rders that can be made by the court.JurisdictionThe statutory schemeWith effect from April 1993, maintenance for children whose parents lived apart, was determined by the Child Support Agency (CSA), as established by the Child Support Act 1991 (CSA 1991) (as amended). Subsequently the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (C-MEC) was established by the Child Maintenance...

Child support鈥攑rocedure

This Practice Note provides guidance on procedural matters when dealing with an application to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) for child maintenance under the statutory child support scheme, together with the information that must be provided, enforcement powers, variations, and revisions, supersessions and appeals.PrinciplesChanges were made to statutory child support under the Child Support Act 1991 (CSA 1991) by the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 (CMOPA 2008), initially in limited circumstances. With effect from 25 November 2013 the revised scheme was extended to all new applications. Key aspects include:鈥he application must be made via the Child Maintenance Service鈥nitially, a charge of 拢20 for an application under the revised statutory scheme, which was abolished with effect from 26 February 2024, plus:鈼 20% collection fee on top of the usual child maintenance amount for paying parents using the Collect and Pay service鈼 4% collection fee deducted from the usual child maintenance amount for receiving parents using the Collect and Pay service, and鈼 range of enforcement charges for paying parents who...