Hi Lilacria
Thank you for your post. I am William the
child maintenance Options consultant. If you and your ex-partner can come to an agreement between yourselves, this is known as a family-based arrangement where you can agree who will provide what for your children.
There are no strict rules or formulas that you have to stick to when calculating your payments. It can also include money and other kinds of support, for example providing clothing or child care and days out. You may also wish to discuss travel cost being part of your arrangement with your children''s father.
Family-based arrangements are not usually legally binding, however, they are quick, easy and free to set up. They are also flexible to change if either you or your children''s father has a change in circumstances. Research has proven that when parents collaborate together to make a maintenance arrangement, it can help their children adjust to the change in their family living arrangements.
You have mentioned that you are worried that your children''s father will be unable to take the children places if he is paying too much maintenance. You may find our child maintenance decision guide: Talking about money useful this can help you and your children''s father decide how much maintenance your children need. We also have a family-based arrangement form that is not a legally enforceable document but may put your agreement on a more formal basis. These are available to download with all our other leaflets on our website at
www.cmoptions.org/en/toolbox/leaflets.asp.
You may also wish to use our online calculator via the following link:
www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/ to see how much maintenance you may be entitled to receive if you were to use the services of statutory scheme. You can use this estimated figure as a starting point in your negotiations in making a family-based arrangement.
If you wanted to make a family-based arrangement, the person who started the application process with the statutory scheme would need to contact them to cancel the application process. If you are happy to carry on with the application you would need to contact them directly to discuss your concerns. Their contact details can be found on any letter they have sent you, or by the following link:
www.gov.uk/child-maintenance.
The Government plans to introduce costs for using the Child Maintenance Service at some point in the future. There will be three types of costs:
Application fees
Fees for collecting and paying out child maintenance payments
Enforcement charges for paying parents who do not pay.
We do not know the exact amount of these charges yet or when they might be introduced as they still need to go through parliament but the Child Maintenance Service will write to everyone with a case to confirm the exact amounts at least a month before they come in.
You can avoid costs by making your own family-based arrangements with your children''s father. If you try it and it does not work out, you can still apply to the Child Maintenance Service at any stage.
To find out more about how Child Maintenance Options can help you visit
www.cmoptions.org or call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on Saturday.
I hope this helps.
William
