What age do you have to pay child support until in the UK?

Co-authored by Yasmin Jeffrey

Child maintenance (also known as child support) is an arrangement between two separated parents that includes ongoing, periodical payments made from one parent to the other, to financially support their child. Child maintenance is to be used to meet financial expenses in relation to the child, such as food, clothing, housing and childcare etc.

How is child maintenance calculated?

Child maintenance is calculated based on the following:

1. The gross income of the parent who will be paying child maintenance;
2. The number of children the paying parent will be paying child maintenance for (and if this includes children from another relationship); and
3. The number of overnights the child spends with each parent.

If a shared care arrangement is in place, where both parents have equal care of the children, child maintenance is not payable. However, where the children stay overnight with one parent more than the other, there is a statutory obligation on the parent who has less time with the children to pay child maintenance to the other parent. The parent who has more overnights with the children and receives child maintenance is often referred to as the ‘receiving parent’ and the parent who has less overnights with the children and pays child maintenance as the ‘paying parent.’

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has an online calculator that allows parents to input the required information (listed above) to calculate the correct amount of child maintenance the paying parent should be paying. The link to the CMS calculator can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/calculate-child-maintenance

Where the paying parent earns a gross income of more than £156,000 per annum, a ‘maximum assessment’ will have been awarded by the CMS. The recent case of James v Seymour [2023], stated that in these circumstances, the Family Courts in England and Wales will have the jurisdiction to determine an amount of ‘top-up’ maintenance.

How is child maintenance agreed?

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has primary jurisdiction for assessing and enforcing child maintenance payments.  However, this does not mean parents have to engage the CMS. Parents can reach an agreement between themselves without the input of the CMS and have their agreement set out in a financial consent order if they want it set out in a legally binding document. In these circumstances, parents can use the free online CMS calculator to guide them as to the correct amount of child maintenance payable and negotiate between themselves as to a suitable and affordable child maintenance arrangement. However, where there is a disagreement, or where payments need to be enforced, there is the option for parents to engage the CMS by making an application.

When does child maintenance stop?

Child maintenance is payable until the child reaches the age of 16, or 20 if they are in full-time secondary education. However, the amount of child maintenance may vary or be stopped prior to the child turning 16 or 20 (if in full-time education), for the following reasons:

1. Change in income – if there is a significant change in the income of the parent paying child maintenance then the monthly figure will need to be recalculated to reflect the decrease or increase in income. For example, if the parent paying child maintenance has a significant drop in their income, the child maintenance payable would be reassessed and decreased.
2. Change in child arrangements – if the child arrangements change to both parents having equal care of the child, then child maintenance would no longer be payable. Even where the number of nights the child spends with each parent changes, this can have an impact on the amount of child maintenance. Also, if the child decides to move in with the paying parent and spend less overnights with the receiving parent, then the child maintenance obligation will shift to the other parent.
3. Where one parent dies – if either the paying or receiving parent passes away, child maintenance payments will automatically cease.
4.  The child becomes financially independent – if the child moves out to live by themselves or if they become financially independent, child maintenance will cease.
5. The paying parent is no longer eligible to pay maintenance – this may occur where a paying parent becomes a student. As soon as the parent becomes eligible again, payments must resume.

There are many misconceptions that child maintenance will stop in the following circumstances:

• If there is a third-party assisting with financially supporting the children e.g. another family member such as a grandparent
• If the parent receiving the child maintenance gets remarried or is in a new relationship
• If the receiving parent has a higher income than the parent paying child maintenance
• If the paying parent does not have parental responsibility for the child

The above do not stop child maintenance from being payable. All parents have a legal responsibility to financially support their children, and the above circumstances do not negate this responsibility.

If you require tailored advice regarding child maintenance or any other family law related matters, please get in touch with our team to arrange a consultation with one of our specialist family lawyers.

Lucy Naish is a Senior Associate in our Horsham office.