Hi Gladdad
Thank you for your post. I am William, the Child Maintenance Options consultant. I will provide you with some information about child maintenance that may help answer your query.
One way of setting up a child maintenance arrangement is to make an agreement between yourselves, in the form of a family-based arrangement. With this type of agreement, there are no strict rules to stick to. A family-based arrangement does not need to be all about money, although many parents do include regular financial contributions. Your child''s mother can contribute in other way, such as directly paying for things that your child may need. A family-based arrangement is not legally-binding, however, many parents prefer this type of agreement because it is very flexible and can easily be reviewed if you or your child''s mother''s circumstances change.
To help you set up a family-based arrangement, we have a range of tools, forms and guides on our website that you may find useful. We have a discussion guide that can help you plan your conversations around child maintenance. We also have a family-based arrangement form, which is not a legally-binding document. However, when used to write down what both of you have agreed, it can help to formalise your arrangement. If you would like to gain access to our tools and guides, please visit our website at
www.cmoptions.org/en/toolbox/.
If you and your child''s mother are unable to agree on a family-based arrangement, you can approach your local magistrates court to apply for a court order for maintenance to be made. This can then be enforced by the Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders (REMO).
This is an agreement set up via the British Government with other countries, to enable citizens to receive maintenance if a parent lives abroad. From 18th June 2011, if the paying parent is in an EU member state (except Denmark) the REMO team may make an application for enforcement action to be taken in that EU member state under new European regulation EC 04/2009. Under the regulation, the EU member state is legally obliged to take enforcement action as far as reasonably possible.
You can find a full list of participating countries at
www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/protecting-...mo-location-list.pdf. You can also find more information on the Gov.uk at
www.gov.uk/child-maintenance-if-one-parent-lives-abroad.
In general, the Child Support Agency (CSA) only has the jurisdiction to enforce child maintenance when both parents are living in the UK. However, there are a number of exceptions to this when any of the following points apply to the paying parent:
The paying parent is working abroad in the service of the Crown. For example, they are a Civil Servant, working in Her Majesty''s Diplomatic Service or are a member of the Armed Forces.
The paying parent is working abroad for a UK-based company. For example, the company employs people to work outside the UK but makes payments via a UK payroll. The company also needs to be registered under the Companies Act 1985 (England, Wales and Scotland) or the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.
The paying parent is working abroad on a secondment for a prescribed body. For example, they work for an NHS trust, a regional health authority, a primary care trust or a local authority.
For more information on the above, you may wish to contact the CSA directly. If you do not have their contact details, you can find them on the Gov.uk at
www.gov.uk/child-support-agency.
With regards to making a claim for Ancillary Relief, you may wish to contact your solicitor for further guidance. Alternatively, you can contact the Citizen Advice Bureau as they can provide information on legal topics. Their contact details can be found on their website at
www.adviceguide.org.uk.
For more information about child maintenance, you may wish to visit our website at
www.cmoptions.org. Alternatively, you can call us free on 0800 988 0988, between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on a Saturday. We also have a Sorting Out Separation web-app that you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is:
www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Sorting-Out-Separation.html.
I hope you will find this information useful.
William
