New arrangements for Child Maintenance Services have come into force.
The reforms are aimed at encouraging separated parents to work together to support their children while at the same time providing a more efficient statutory service for those unable or unwilling to reach agreement.
Under the new arrangements, there are three options available for separated parents:
• A family based arrangement where parents work together to sort out and agree child maintenance between themselves without any involvement from Child Maintenance Services.
• Direct Pay where the Child Maintenance Service, at no cost, calculates the amount payable and the parents agree between themselves how and when payments are made.•
• Collect and Pay where the Child Maintenance Service calculates the amount payable and collects this amount from the non-resident parent and pays it to the parent with care.
Parents who choose to use the Collect and Pay service will be charged at 20% for paying parents and 4% for receiving parents.
Any paying parent within who does not comply with their liability payments will have additional enforcement fees charged, ranging from £50 – £300.
Help and support is available for separated parents through Child Maintenance Choices, a free telephone advice service on 0800 028 7439.
The service also signposts other sources of support and assistance available to separating and separated families in areas such as legal advice, mediation, parenting and finance.
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