You can use the child maintenance calculator to work out how much your child maintenance payments should be.

The calculator is based on the rules used by the Child Maintenance Service. You can also use it if you’re arranging child maintenance yourself.

Contact Child Maintenance Options to discuss your child maintenance arrangements, including how to apply.

The Child Support Agency (CSA) no longer takes on new cases but will still handle cases opened before 25 November 2013.

Child maintenance and Universal Credit

Child maintenance payments can be affected if either the paying or receiving parent is claiming Universal Credit.

The 'paying parent' is the parent the child doesn't live with. The parent or carer they live with is the 'receiving parent'.

Paying parents

Child maintenance payments will be deducted from the monthly Universal Credit payment if the paying parent has no earned income.

If the paying parent does have an earned income, maintenance payments will be:

• worked out from that income - Universal Credit won’t be included in the calculation
• collected directly - they won’t be deducted from Universal Credit payments

Receiving parents

Receiving parents will be contacted by their agency to work out how maintenance payments might be affected if:

• they have an earned income
• the child maintenance case was opened before March 2003

The Child Maintenance Service and Child Support Agency use different methods to calculate child maintenance.

The Child Maintenance Service usually follows 6 steps when working out the weekly amount of child maintenance.

Once it’s been decided, it’s reviewed each year, when any changes in circumstances are taken into account.

The 'paying parent' is the parent the child doesn't live with. The parent or carer they live with is the 'receiving parent'.

Step 1 - working out income

The Child Maintenance Service will find out the paying parent’s yearly gross income from information supplied by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and check if they’re getting benefits (tax credits, student grants and loans don’t count as income).

Step 2 - looking at things that affect income

The Child Maintenance Service will check for things that could change the gross income amount (eg pension payments, other children they support). Then they’ll convert the yearly gross income into a weekly figure.

Step 3 - child maintenance rates

One of 5 rates will be applied, based on the gross weekly income of the paying parent:

Step 4 - other children

The Child Maintenance Service will take into account the number of children the paying parent has to pay child maintenance for, including other children living with them and any arrangements that have been made directly with an ex-partner.

Step 5 - weekly amount of child maintenance

Using information from the first 4 steps, the Child Maintenance Service decides the weekly child maintenance amount.

Step 6 - shared care

This is when a paying parent’s child stays overnight with them.

In these cases, the Child Maintenance Service makes a deduction to the weekly child maintenance amount based on the average number of ‘shared care’ nights a week.

Find out more in the following guides:

Download 'How child maintenance is worked out by the Child Maintenance Service' (PDF, 330KB)

Download 'Annual reviews for Child Maintenance' (PDF, 1.1MB)

Fees

The Child Maintenance Service will apply fees in the future - an application fee and a ‘collection fee’ for collecting and paying out child maintenance. The collection fee may affect how much parents will pay and receive.

You don’t need to do anything about this now.

If you’re a paying parent the Child Maintenance Service will write to you before any fees are introduced.

If you use Direct Pay (where you get the Child Maintenance Service to work out how much you should pay, but pay the receiving parent directly instead of through the service), there usually won’t be any collection fees.

The Child Maintenance Service and Child Support Agency use different methods to calculate child maintenance.

The Child Support Agency (CSA) no longer takes on new cases but will still handle cases opened before 25 November 2013. It looks at several things to work out child maintenance, including:

• the paying parent’s net weekly income
• the number of children needing child maintenance
• how often those children stay overnight with the paying parent
• if the paying parent or their partner gets Child Benefit for any other children
• if the paying parent is paying child maintenance for any other children

The 'paying parent' is the parent the child doesn't live with. The parent or carer they live with is the 'receiving parent'.

How the CSA works out net income

The paying parent’s income is:

• their earnings from employment
• taxable profits from self-employment
• money from an occupational or personal pension
• certain tax credits

Net income is what’s left after the following are deducted:

• tax
• National Insurance
• pension contributions

The CSA can get information about income from the paying parent’s employer or HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

If the paying parent has to pay for other children

If the paying parent uses the CSA to pay child maintenance to more than one receiving parent, the CSA will:

• work out the total amount of child maintenance they have to pay
• divide this between all the receiving parents, according to how many children they care for

The CSA has produced a leaflet explaining in more detail how child maintenance is worked out.

Download 'How is child maintenance worked out by the CSA?' (PDF, 359KB)

There are 4 rates of child maintenance. They’re used with the paying parent’s income to work out a weekly amount of child maintenance.

The 'paying parent' is the parent the child doesn't live with. The parent or carer they live with is the 'receiving parent'.

Nil rate

This means the parent the child doesn’t live with doesn’t have to pay child maintenance because they:

• are a student
• are a child aged 16 or under (or 18 or under if they’re in full-time education not higher than A-level)
• are a prisoner
• get an allowance for work-based training or Skillseekers training (in Scotland)
• live in a care home or independent hospital and get help with the fees
• are 16 to 17 years old and they or their partner get certain benefits

Flat rate

This is £7 per week no matter how many children are involved. It’s used if the paying parent’s weekly income is between £5 and £100 and they don’t qualify for the nil rate.

It’s also used if they get certain benefits, including (but not limited to):

• Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments
• Bereavement Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit
• Income Support
• Employment and Support Allowance
• Jobseeker's Allowance
• Pension Credit
• State Pension
• Training Allowance
• War Disablement Pension

If the paying parent lives with a partner, the flat rate will be used if the partner gets:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit

Reduced rate

This is used if the paying parent’s net weekly income is more than £100 but less than £200. They pay the flat rate of £7 plus a percentage of their net weekly income.

Basic rate

This is a percentage of the paying parent’s net income. It’s used if they have a net weekly income of £200 or more. The percentage depends on:

• the number of children needing child maintenance
• the number of other children the paying parent or their partner get Child Benefit for

Your case will be worked out using an old set of rules you opened a child maintenance case before March 2003.

Cases opened before March 2003 are called ‘1993 scheme’ cases. Cases opened after March 2003 are ‘2003 scheme’ cases. Cases opened with the Child Maintenance Service are called ‘2012 scheme’ cases.

Moving to the 2003 scheme

The CSA has to use the same rules to work out child maintenance for every child with the same paying or receiving parent.

The 'paying parent' is the parent the child doesn't live with. The parent or carer they live with is the 'receiving parent'.

The CSA will move your case to the March 2003 rules if all the following apply:

• you’re part of a CSA case opened before March 2003
• you’ve made a new application or been named in one on or after 3 March 2003
• the children in the new application have a different parent to the children in the existing case

The CSA will contact you and the other parent to let you know if your case needs to be moved.

Your child maintenance payments will usually change if your case is moved. Read the CSA leaflet for more information.

Download 'What happens if my child maintenance case moves?' (PDF, 292KB)