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Guide to
Child Maintenance
Barclay DeVere Family Mediation Service
for all child maintenance
payment issues
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When securing maintenance for your child, you need to know what to do and what not to do so as to be able not to hurt the child’s chances of getting a stable and bright future.
Benefits Of Mediation
- Confidentiality – meditation is a confidential process – the discussions cannot be used against either party as evidence in court.
- However, there are a few exceptions for example when there is a potential threat to human life or safety.
- Voluntary – you cannot be forced to participate in the meditation process or forced to agree on your issues.
- Neutrality and impartiality of the mediator – a mediator will help you seek mutually agreeable solutions to the issues you’re facing without taking sides.
- Additionally, the mediator will not give advice or make any binding decision unless both parties give the mediator that power.
- Greater control – unlike in a lawsuit, parties are in control of the mediation process. Consequently, they have much greater say in discussions and over the outcome.
- Child-focused – family mediation is focused on the needs and interests of your children. It also offers a platform for you and your spouse to plan for the future care of your children.
- Preserves relationships – since meditation is a collaborative “win/win” process, it helps preserve relationships that would otherwise be destroyed through years of litigation.
Child Maintenance Guide
Here are the things and procedures that you should explore.
Why is it important to get child
maintenance?
Not only is child maintenance a legal responsibility and a way of each of the parents to stay relevant in their child’s life.
It also helps to make a primal difference on the child’s life since it helps to pay for among other things the child’s education, food and clothing.
How can you
arrange
maintenance?
There are a variety of ways that you can use. These include the gamily-based agreements where the parents comes together and make an agreement on how they are going to get around it or, you can use a state agency like the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) and in some cases, you may also use the law courts to help you get maintenance for your child.
Which are the most reliable source of information and support?
Should you be looking on how to go about getting child maintenance, perhaps one of the most reliable places that you can visit is Child Maintenance Options. This is there to offer assistance for parents, guardians as well as relatives and those that might be concerned about the wellbeing of a child.
How can one be able to arrange for
child maintenance?
There are a number of ways that a parent can be able to do this.
The quickest and most amicable method is the family based agreements and this is more so the case because it also comes with its own variety of advantages that include;
Why Child maintenance is vital
- Is fast and easy and payments are able to begin instantly.
- It is amicable and there is less conflict involved hence making it more beneficial for the child.
- It is easier for one to keep their promises if it is not on coursed terms.
- These option is very private.
- It is flexible and you can be able to change the terms.
- It’s not legally binding.
- You can still negotiate even when the other partner is out of the country.
How much should child maintenance be?
One of the most convenient ways that you can use to tell how much child maintenance you should be asking for is by using the CMS’s Child Maintenance Calculator. This can offer you a great place to start. Also make sure that you keep all the records of expenses and payments since they could come in handy.
What is the option other than family based agreement.
WHY BARCLAY DEVERE
While the family based agreement is highly advocated for, for one reasons or another which includes violence and abuse, it may not work out for all.
In this case, you can apply for a child maintenance which is statutory and is managed by the CMS. Once either of the parents contacts the CMO, they can then apply to the CMS which is able to;
- Determine how much and when the child maintained payments should be made.
- Track down the other parent.
- Collect and ensure payments are made.
- Also helps to make sure that the two parents avoid contact.
Keep in mind though that this option is very stringent and is not easy to make changes on this platform.
Direct pay.
To curb the hurdles that the previous method poses, CMS also offers the Direct Pay. Her parents are able to organize how and when they will be paying and the CMS is able to offer advice in case the need arises. This platform is more flexible.
Change of Guard.
The CSA will be closing the maintenance agreements of 1993 and 2003 in preparation of the takeover by the CMS. Affected parents will be advised to either opt for the family based agreement or file a fresh with the incoming CMS.
Which children does the child maintenance cover?
The law provides that any parent that does not have the day to day responsibility of the child should be the one to pay maintenance. It also states that a child is anyone that is below 16 years or one that is between 16 to 19 years depending on these provisions;
- Is not married, has never been or is not in a civil partnership.
- Is one who is on a non-advanced or full time education
How does the CMS Calculator work?
The amount that the CMS is able to work out depends on a variety of factors that are provided for by children laws that include;
- The non-resident parent’s net income.
- The number of children that the parent who is a non-resident lives away from.
- If there are any children that the non-resident parent lives with and their number.
- The amount of care that the non-resident parent shares.
What types of child maintenance is a court able to order?
There are a variety of instances that the court has the ability to order for that include;
- School fees payment.
- Maintenance for disabled and step children.
- Those that are in further education and a variety of other situations that can include regular medical prescriptions.
Aside from that, a court also has the ability to order for a certain amount of money to be paid or property availed to the children in certain circumstances.
Family Mediation Resolution
Should a father be named in a child maintenance application and they have an issue about the paternity, the following criteria is followed if the child has not been legally adopted;
What if there is a paternity dispute?
- If you and the mother had been married at any single point between the conception and the birth of the child in question.
- If you have legally adopted the child.
- In the even that you appear as the father on the child’s birth certificate.
- If you have already been named in a court order as being the parent to the child in question.
- If legally you can be presumed as the father of the child due to a fertility treatment.
In this guide any potential worries or question that you may have had about how to get the child maintenance have more or less been addressed. However, in the even that you still have any worries, the CMS can be a great resource.
Guide To Child Maintenance - How To Get Through Divorce Mediation
The Guide to Child Maintenance provides a helpful overview of the subject. The terms child and the word maintenance should be kept separate, as it is often used in a different context than for married couples.
The Guide also explains the benefits of mediation between parents and children involved in a divorce proceeding.
Child maintenance is paid by both non-custodial parents and both resident and non-resident parents are obligated to contribute towards the costs of raising their children.
The custodial parent is typically the more economically able one, as his or her income generally exceeds that of the non-custodial parent. The non-custodial parent, on the other hand, usually comes from a low-income family and is not able to meet the financial requirements of contributing to the costs of child care.
In addition, as the custodial parent, he or she has the right to dictate the type of payments to be made by the non-custodial parent to their children, which is usually in the form of spousal support.
When children live with divorced or separated parents, both parties to the agreement are responsible for making the required payments.
It is important to remember that neither parent is responsible for paying any fines or restitution that may be awarded to the other parent.
Therefore, any payment given to the custodial parent should not be used for these purposes. A parent who has custody of a child can submit an application for mediation through the court.
The courts may approve or deny this request, but if it is granted then both parents will be allowed to participate in the process.
Mediation between parents and their children involved in a divorce proceeding involves the cooperation of both parties in order to establish an amicable schedule of payments and support.
During the course of mediation, each parent will present their case to the other and try to work out an amount that the other parent is willing to pay.
If the agreement reaches an agreement, it will be entered into the court as part of a finalized custody order. If the mediation process is unsuccessful, both parents may go to trial and take the matter to court.
If one parent is found to be unfit to care for the other’s child, they may be ordered to pay for the care with assistance from a public welfare agency.
The Guide to Child Maintenance helps guide the reader toward the correct approach to negotiations between a custodial parent and the non-custodial parent regarding child support and spousal support.
The Guide to Child Maintenance also explains what types of mediators may be hired to conduct mediation.
There are many qualified professionals available in several areas who can provide professional guidance to the parties involved in a mediation process.