Child Maintenance Law and Child Support Laws

Child Support Laws

Parents have a legal obligation to financially support their children until the age of 19 or completion of full-time secondary education, this comes in the form of child support payments.

Child support enforcement

The parent who does not live with the children will be expected to pay maintenance for the children. If maintenance is paid voluntarily there is no need for the involvement of the Child Support Agency. If agreement cannot be reached a referral to the Child Support Agency can be made.

Child maintenance can be applied for on an Interim basis to assist the receiving party during the course of the divorce or civil partnership dissolution proceedings.

Contact the family team for an accurate estimate of the level of maintenance the Child Support Agency may order to be paid should a referral be made.

Money and property for a spouse or partner

In divorce or civil partnership dissolution proceedings there may be times when one spouse or partner is able to claim maintenance from the other to increase their income.

Each case is decided on its own merits and consideration needs to be given as to whether it is appropriate for there to be a maintenance order or not depending on circumstance of the individuals involved in the case.

Maintenance orders can be made upon a termed basis, eg for a specific period of time, or until either party dies, the receiving party remarries or enters into a civil partnership, or further court order.

Should a maintenance order be made it can be varied upward or downward in the future depending on either party's financial needs and the wording of the original order. In some cases where there is an abundance of capital available, it may be appropriate to provide the spouse or civil partner who would normally receive maintenance with more of the capital available to effectively "buy-out" their claims for maintenance. This is known as a clean break. In obtaining a clean break neither party can then claim maintenance against the other in the future.

For more information on child maintenance and maintenance orders fill out our online enquiry form today.