Periodical payments for children

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Child arrangements orders—residence

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Practice notes

Leave to remove—external relocation

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26th Sep

Practice notes

General principles—spousal and civil partner periodical payments

The court’s power to order periodical payments is contained in section 23(1)(a) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) and Schedule 5, Part 1,...

26th Sep

Practice notes

General principles of consent orders

This Practice Note sets out the procedural steps to be taken where the parties have reached agreement by consent within financial remedy proceedings,...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Eligibility to apply under TOLATA 1996

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26th Sep

Practice notes

Service of applications for matrimonial and civil partnership orders within the jurisdiction

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26th Sep

Practice notes

FPR 2010, Part 18 applications—procedure

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26th Sep

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Child arrangements orders—contact

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The ground for divorce

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Practice notes

Family law training materials

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26th Sep

Practice notes

Issuing financial proceedings in Form A (standard procedure)

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25th Sep

COVID-19

Practice notes

Child arrangements orders

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Case law relating to TOLATA 1996 claims

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25th Sep

Practice notes

Enforcing an order for sale

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Produced in partnership with David Salter, deputy High Court judge and Recorder 25th Sep

Most recent Periodical payments for children content

Practice notes

Child support—school fees

The court retains jurisdiction to make an order that a non-resident parent (NRP), or person by whom the relevant child has been treated as a child of...

2nd Sep

Practice notes

Child support—disputed paternity

This Practice Note deals with the circumstances where a claim is made for child support and paternity is disputed. It details the cases in which there...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Child support—top-up maintenance orders

Applicable lawAn application can be made to the court for a 'top-up' maintenance order where a maintenance calculation has been undertaken by the...

25th Sep

Practice notes

Child support—procedure

This Practice Note provides guidance on procedural matters when dealing with an application to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) for child...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Child support—children with special needs

The court retains jurisdiction to make orders for maintenance where a personal independence payment is paid to or in respect of a child, or where a...

26th Sep

Precedents

Financial arrangements for children—client guide

This document provides general guidance regarding financial provision for children. Your family lawyer will be able to provide specific advice based...

26th Sep

Q&As

A financial consent order between spouses made provision for spousal maintenance and for child maintenance until the child (now nearly age 19) finishes tertiary education. The parties now wish to capitalise both the spousal and child maintenance. Can child maintenance be capitalised so that there is a clean break?

In general, the purpose of a capitalised maintenance order is to effect a clean break so as to terminate the financial obligations of each party...

28th Sep

Q&As

If a consent order includes provision for child maintenance in financial remedy proceedings, but no order for spousal maintenance, would there be a clean break in respect of capital and not in respect of income?

Section 23(1) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) contains the principal power to make spousal periodical payments orders on divorce—the...

Produced in partnership with Nicholas Starks of St Ives Chambers 28th Sep

Q&As

Can the court make an order within financial proceedings, or otherwise take into account, overpayments of child maintenance made under a statutory child support assessment?

Save in limited circumstances, the court has no jurisdiction in respect of child maintenance which is governed by the Child Support Act 1991 as...

Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk 28th Sep

Q&As

A paying parent’s gross income is less than £156,000 per annum, but they also receive a transport allowance, shares and bonuses. Which of those benefits, if any, will a Child Maintenance Service calculation take into account? Will those benefits be taken into account as to the jurisdiction of the court to make a ‘top-up’ order, and would the court then have regard to any of those benefits when calculating the amount of a top up order?

Since the coming into force of the Child Support Act 1991, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) and its precursor bodies have had sole jurisdiction in...

28th Sep

Q&As

The parties to a marriage entered into a consent order which provided for global periodical payments (spousal and child maintenance until the child finished secondary education). The ‘child’ is now over the age of 18, has completed secondary education, is entering tertiary education and the original maintenance order has ended. What options are there for the recipient of the global maintenance to seek financial support for the child at university given that they are too late to apply to extend the child periodical payments in the consent order?

If there are special circumstances, or they are receiving further education or training, a child who has reached the age of 18 may apply themselves...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 28th Sep

Q&As

Is a child maintenance order included in a financial order by consent still enforceable after 12 months?

The court has limited jurisdiction to deal with child maintenance within financial remedy proceedings, due to the provisions of the Child Support Act...

Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk 28th Sep

Q&As

Where the court has made a maintenance order for the benefit of a child, and one party’s financial circumstances change, should that party make an application to vary the order downwards rather than simply vary it themselves? What effect would such a scenario have on future enforcement proceedings as to unpaid maintenance?

The courts have limited jurisdiction in relation to child maintenance and are only able to make orders for child maintenance in certain circumstances,...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 28th Sep

Q&As

Two women, who were not married or in a civil partnership, had a child through in vitro fertilisation via a licensed clinic. The first woman provided the eggs and carried the child and both women are named on the child’s birth certificate. Where the first woman is the parent with care, is the other woman liable to pay child support?

Section 1(1) of the Child Support Act 1991 (CSA 1991) provides that, for the purposes of CSA 1991, each parent of a qualifying child is responsible...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 28th Sep

Q&As

Where a paying party receives a redundancy payment, including in lieu of notice and holiday entitlement, together with ex gratia and disability payments, will the Child Maintenance Service take those payments into account on a maintenance assessment? How would the maintenance be calculated in such circumstances? Could the court make an order for child maintenance by treating the ex gratia and disability payments as capital sums?

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates a statutory formula to calculate the level of child maintenance, based upon a percentage of the gross...

Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk 28th Sep

Q&As

Are there any circumstances in which a connection will be made between the payment of child maintenance and contact between the paying parent and the child, in particular where contact is being prevented by the parent with care?

The statutory formula for child maintenance under the Child Support Act 1991 (CSA 1991) makes no connection between whether the paying parent is...

28th Sep

Q&As

When calculating a maintenance assessment, will the Child Maintenance Service take into account payments made by the non-resident parent in relation to the mortgage on the family home?

Parents are able to reach private agreements between themselves, without making use of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) at all, as to the level of...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 28th Sep

Q&As

Is it possible for the parties to agree to oust the jurisdiction of the court in respect of an application for school fees or top up maintenance for the children under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989?

While there does not appear to be case law dealing specifically with this point as to Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989), such an...

28th Sep

Q&As

Where a parent with care (PWC) claims child maintenance through the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), can the CMS backdate a claim to cover the period for which the PWC did not previously claim?

The Child Support Maintenance Calculation Regulations 2012, SI 2012/2677 provide at reg 12 that the initial effective date of the maintenance...

28th Sep

Q&As

What is the procedure for applying to vary a financial consent order, and can this be done by way of a further financial consent order lodged with the court?

Where the parties have agreed to vary the terms of a financial consent order, and the terms are capable of being varied by an order of the court, then...

28th Sep