Working out how much child maintenance you should be paying can be complicated and time consuming. Family solicitor, Mark Taylor explains the how the process works.
Child maintenance is not dealt with by courts. For years it has been calculated according to a formula under the Child Support Agency and more recently under the Child Maintenance Service.
Under the original scheme, calculating child maintenance was an extremely complex process, which was difficult for parents to work out for themselves. The second “net income scheme” introduced a far more straightforward way of calculating child maintenance involving, in most cases, a simple percentage of the non-resident parent’s income.
The current “gross income scheme” stipulates that the percentage payable will be applied to the non-resident parent’s gross income. The intention behind the change is that there will be less room for error or argument as no deductions will be made for tax or national insurance.
The current gross income scheme applies to all child maintenance applications made through the Child Maintenance Service after the 25th November 2013.
The basic rate for child maintenance where there is one child is 12% of the non-resident parent’s gross weekly income, increasing to 16% when there are 2 children and 19% when there are 3 or more children.
However, these percentages change when the non-resident parent’s gross income is below £200 or over £800 a week.
There are allowances made for “relevant other children” that the non-resident parent is responsible for or lives with. Deductions are also made from the maintenance calculation when parents share the care of the children, the reductions are based on how many nights per week the child/children spend with the non-resident parent.
Although the issue of child maintenance is supposed to be simplified to help parents work out how much child maintenance is payable, the reality is that this is far from the case and often specialist legal advice is required.
For further information on child maintenance payments, please contact Mark Taylor on 0161 761 4611 or email him at Mark.Taylor@whnsolicitors.co.uk
