Child Maintenance
Calculations
The ‘paying parent’ does not have main day-to-day care of the child.
The ‘receiving parent’ has main day-to-day care of the child
The Child Maintenance Service will find out the paying parent’s yearly gross income from information supplied by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) alongside other factors like benefits, shared care, and if they have other children when generating a calculation.
In most instances you will not have anything to pay through the Child Maintenance Service if you are:
- Sharing care equally with the other parent
- A full-time student with no income
- In prison
When payments can change
- The amount you pay or receive in child maintenance can change when:
- Your case is reviewed each year
- You or the other parent applies for a variation
- The paying parent has a change of circumstances that affects their income or expenses, for example if the child stays overnight with them more often - you must report a change as soon as it happens.