Child Maintenance, The Courts and the CSA

Most people refer to the UK agency which deals with collecting maintenance for children as the Child Support Agency. Strictly speaking this is not correct.Following publicity in the media of the catastrophic failures of the CSA in 2008,there was a major reorganisation and the name was changed to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. However most people still refer to the CSA and we shall do so in this article.

The question of maintenance for the children of a failed relationship following separation and divorce can become very emotionally charged. People often think of taking disputes over the maintenance payable by the non-resident parent to the courts but the reality is that since the 1990s the courts are no longer able to deal with maintenance for children.

As always however there can be exceptions to this rule.It is possible for the court to deal with child maintenance in a limited number of instances. These are: • Where the parents both apply to the court for an ‘order by consent’ -such as when they both agree how much will be paid • Where the child is in full-time education and there are school fees to pay • Where the child is undergoing vocational training or an apprenticeship and there are expenses to pay • Where the child is disabled, and there are care costs • Where the other parent lives abroad on a permanent basis

Where parents have agreed not to divorce but to enter into a formal, written separation agreement, then child maintenance can be incorporated into the agreement and the terms and provisions‘converted’ into a consent order in a subsequent divorce.

As a result the Child Support Agency alone can deal with maintenance for children in the vast majority of cases. The result is that cases of disputes over the amount of maintenance are not usually dealt with by lawyers as there will be very little that a lawyer can do to assist. The assessment will be made by the CSA using their formula.

Disputes over the calculation of maintenance are best left to the experts. The CSA will calculate the maintenance based on Gross Income and not Net Income. This calculation does not take into consideration any expenditure of the non-resident parent for a mortgage or usual living expenses although Pension contributions have been confirmed as an allowable expense and can therefore be taken into account,

The new rates of maintenance to be paid from Gross income are:

12% for one child 16% for two children 19% for three or more children If the non-resident parents gross weekly wage is more than £800pw an additional amount will have to be paid.

In cases where the non-resident parent refuses to pay the assessed amount or if it is thought that the assessed figure is not right it is best to approach a specialist for help. There are a number of well respected organisation which specialises in providing advice, support and information when the CSA have either got it wrong or let you down, They will usually charge a subscription of around £50 for a years access to advice, help and support through a telephone helpline number or email.

Once an assessment has been made it is for the CSA to enforce payment. This could be by taking the non-payer to court and asking for an attachment of earnings order whereby money will be stopped from his (or her) earnings. an alternative to this would be for a warrant of execution to be issued when court bailiffs would be able to seize goods for payment of the maintenance.

It may be possible to enforce payment against a parent living abroad and outside of the jurisdiction of the UK courts. It has to be said however that there are no known cases of this being done by the CSA as it would be too expensive. The answer would probably be for the person entitled to maintenance to ask the court to make a maintenance order and then enforce it themselves in the relevant country.

There are restrictions on what the CSA can deal with. They cannot for example deal with maintenance for children over 17 years of age unless they are still in full-time secondary school education.

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