What Happens If a Parent Doesn’t Pay Child Maintenance?
When you're relying on child maintenance payments to help cover your children's everyday needs, discovering that your ex-partner has stopped paying or isn't paying enough can be incredibly stressful. You might feel frustrated, worried about your finances, and unsure about what steps you can take. The good news is that you have options, and there are clear paths forward to get the support your children deserve.
What Is Child Maintenance For?
Child maintenance is regular financial support paid by the non-resident parent (the parent who doesn’t have day-to-day care of the child) to help with the costs of raising their child.
Child maintenance payments are designed to help cover your child’s everyday living costs, including:
Housing costs (rent or mortgage)
Food and groceries
Clothing and shoes
School uniforms and basic school supplies
Heating and utility bills
It’s important to note that child maintenance doesn’t usually cover “extras” such as:
Private school fees
Additional tutoring
Costly extracurricular activities
Specialist equipment for hobbies
These additional costs usually need to be agreed separately, or you may need to apply to the court in some circumstances.
How Child Maintenance Arrangements Work
First, it's important to understand that if a parent who is required to pay child maintenance doesn't pay, they can face serious financial and legal consequences. The exact steps you can take will depend on how your maintenance arrangement was set up in the first place.
Types of Maintenance Arrangements
There are typically three types of arrangements:
1. Private Family-Based Arrangements
These are informal agreements between you and your ex-partner that aren't legally binding. While these can work well when both parents cooperate, they can be harder to enforce if payments stop.
2. Child Maintenance Service (CMS) Arrangements
The CMS (previously known as the Child Support Agency) calculates and can help collect child maintenance payments. They offer two main payment methods:
Direct Pay: The CMS calculates the amount, but you and your ex handle the payments directly between yourselves
Collect and Pay: The CMS both calculates the amount and collects the payment from the paying parent, then passes it on to you
3. Court Orders (Consent Orders)
These are legally binding orders issued by the court that set out the terms for child maintenance payments. Having a court order gives you stronger enforcement options.
What To Do When Payments Stop or Aren't Enough
Step 1: Contact the Child Maintenance Service (CMS)
If a child maintenance payment is late or has stopped completely, your first point of contact should be the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Even if you have a Direct Pay arrangement, the CMS needs to know about missed payments before they can take action on your behalf.
If you're using the Collect and Pay service, the CMS will already have a record of any missed child maintenance payments and can start chasing these automatically.
Important tip for paying parents: If you think you might be late making a payment, contact the CMS as soon as possible to let them know. Being proactive can help you avoid enforcement action and additional fees.
Step 2: Understanding CMS Enforcement Powers
When a parent refuses to pay or stops paying, the CMS has a wide range of enforcement measures they can use to collect overdue child maintenance:
Deduction of Earnings Order (Attachment of Earnings)
The CMS can collect unpaid child maintenance directly from the paying parent's wages or pension. Your ex-partner's employer will deduct the money automatically from their salary and send it to you. Under this arrangement:
The employer can charge £1 to cover their administrative costs
The CMS may charge an additional fee of £50
Deduction from Bank or Building Society
The CMS can request money to be taken directly from your ex-partner's bank or building society account. This can be:
A one-off payment
Regular payments
A lump sum payment
Fees for this method range from £50 to £200, payable to the CMS.
Court Liability Order
If the above methods don't clear the debt, the CMS can ask the court for a liability order. Once the court grants this order, the CMS can take further action including:
Referring the debt to a credit reference agency (which will damage your ex's credit rating and make it hard for them to borrow money in the future)
Using bailiffs to seize and sell belongings (like cars) to recover the money owed
Issuing a charging order against property your ex owns
In serious cases, taking committal action that could lead to imprisonment
Other Enforcement Options
The CMS can also:
Revoke your ex-partner's passport or driving licence, or prevent them from getting one
Send the case to Magistrates' court, which could lead to possible imprisonment for persistent non-payment
If Your Ex Breaches a Child Maintenance Consent Order
If you have a legally binding consent order in place and your ex-partner breaches it by not paying child maintenance, you have additional options:
Inform the Court: Your first step is to tell the court that the paying parent has breached the order
Request Enforcement Action: Complete Form D50K (Notice of Application for Enforcement)
Attend a Hearing: The paying parent will be required to attend a court hearing where a judge will decide how best to enforce the order
The court has several enforcement methods available, including:
Attachment of earnings order
Warrant of control
Third-party debt order
Charging order
Judgment summons
Any other method the court considers appropriate
Important limitation: The court only has jurisdiction over child maintenance for 12 months from the date of the order. After this period, either of you can apply to the CMS to reassess the correct amount of child maintenance.
Dealing With Undeclared Income
One of the most frustrating situations is when you suspect your ex is earning much more than they're declaring. Unfortunately, this can be difficult to prove, and the CMS may not act without solid evidence.
Why It's Hard to Prove
Self-employed individuals can manipulate their income figures by:
Inflating business expenses to reduce declared income
If they're a director of a limited company, paying themselves a much lower wage while taking most income as dividends
The CMS can struggle to pursue reviews in these circumstances, even when they suspect undeclared income.
Recent Changes - Capital Can Now Be Considered
There's some good news: recent changes mean that capital assets can now be taken into account when calculating child maintenance. This means:
Properties other than the primary residence
Substantial investments or savings
Other valuable assets
These can all be considered when determining the appropriate child maintenance amount.
When CMS Enforcement May Not Work
The CMS's enforcement powers have limitations in certain situations:
Your ex lives outside the UK: The CMS only has jurisdiction within the UK. If your ex has moved abroad, you may need to explore international enforcement options.
You need extra expenses covered: The CMS doesn't cover costs like private school fees, extra-curricular activities, or special equipment needs. For these, you'll need to apply through the courts.
Your ex earns over £156,000 per year: The CMS can only calculate maintenance up to a certain income level. If your ex earns more than £156,000 annually and you believe you need more maintenance, you'll need to apply to the court for a "top-up" order.
Your ex is experiencing genuine financial hardship: If your ex truly can’t afford the full child maintenance amount (for example, due to job loss or a sudden drop in income), the CMS or court may agree to a temporary solution, such as reduced payments, a repayment plan, or a recalculation based on what they currently earn. This is different to a deliberate refusal to pay, which the CMS and courts treat much more seriously and are likely to enforce more firmly.
How Much Is Child Maintenance?
Child maintenance is calculated based on the paying parent's gross income, including:
Earnings from employment
Bonuses
Pensions
Other income streams
The CMS uses a sliding scale formula based on the number of children:
One child: 12% of gross income
Two children: 16% of gross income
Three or more children: 19% of gross income
Additional factors that can affect the calculation include:
Shared care arrangements (how many nights per week the child stays with the paying parent)
Additional children in the paying parent's household
Whether the paying parent receives certain benefits (in which case they may pay a flat rate)
When Do I Stop Paying Child Maintenance?
Generally, you stop paying child maintenance when:
Your child reaches 16 years old (or 20 if they're in full-time approved education or training, such as A-levels or an apprenticeship)
Your child gets married or enters into a civil partnership
Your child starts living with you full-time
There's a significant change in the shared care arrangement
However, you cannot simply stop making payments, you must inform the CMS or apply to vary or end the court order. Stopping payments without following the proper process can result in unpaid child maintenance building up as arrears, even if your child has technically reached the age limit.
What If You're the Paying Parent Having Difficulties?
If you're the parent who's supposed to be paying child maintenance and you're struggling, the worst thing you can do is simply stop paying without communicating. Instead:
Contact the CMS or the receiving parent immediately to explain your situation
Provide evidence of any change in circumstances (job loss, illness, reduced income)
Request a reassessment if your income has genuinely decreased by 25% or more
Explore payment arrangements rather than missing payments entirely
Keep paying something - even if it's less than the full amount - to show willing
Remember, not communicating and simply stopping payments can result in:
Additional enforcement fees
Damage to your credit rating
Loss of your driving licence or passport
Court action
In extreme cases, imprisonment
Child Maintenance Advice for Fathers
It's important to know that:
Child maintenance is about supporting your child, and either parent may be required to pay it depending on where the child mainly lives and each parent’s circumstances.
Your legal responsibilities don’t depend on whether you were married to your child’s other parent.
Maintenance can apply even if contact is limited or has broken down, it’s assessed separately from how often you see your child.
Child maintenance is separate from child arrangements (contact and living arrangements). You generally can’t withhold maintenance because contact has stopped, and equally, contact shouldn’t be restricted because of maintenance disputes.
If your circumstances change or payments feel unaffordable, you can ask for a reassessment based on your current income.
If you think the calculation is wrong, you can challenge it and request it’s reviewed.
Shared care can affect the amount payable. If your child stays with you regularly (overnight), it may reduce what’s due, and in some situations, the other parent may be the one who pays.
How RJS Family Law Can Help
While RJS Family Law doesn’t advise on child maintenance itself, our solicitors can still support you with the wider family law issues that often sit alongside it, including child arrangements, parental responsibility, prohibited steps orders, and other court applications where needed.
If you need practical, clear legal guidance on your next steps, contact RJS Family Law today to discuss how we can help.
FAQs
How do I report non-payment of child maintenance?
If you have a CMS case, you should contact the CMS and tell them payments have stopped or are short. The CMS will usually try to contact the paying parent first, and if that doesn’t work, they can escalate to enforcement.
Can the Child Maintenance Service take child maintenance directly from wages?
Yes. The CMS can require deductions to be taken directly from earnings via the paying parent’s employer in certain cases.
Can the Child Maintenance Service take child maintenance from a bank account?
Yes. The CMS can, in some situations, recover unpaid maintenance from bank or building society accounts using its deduction powers.
Do I still have to pay child maintenance if I don’t see my child?
Generally, contact arrangements and child maintenance are treated separately. Child maintenance is based on the rules around income and care arrangements, not whether contact is happening.
Can child maintenance be backdated?
CMS calculations typically run from the date you apply (rather than informal dates before that), so applying promptly matters.
Can child maintenance arrears ever be written off?
In some circumstances, arrears can be written off (for example, where recovery isn’t possible). This depends on the facts and the CMS’s decision-making.