Child Maintenance Information and Support Service
What is child maintenance?
All parents have a responsibility to provide financially for their child even if they live apart from the child and the other parent.
- Child maintenance is regular reliable financial support that helps towards the child’s everyday living costs.
- The parent who is not the child’s main day-to-day carer pays child maintenance to the parent who is the main carer.
- You should do everything you can to make sure your child is covered by an effective maintenance arrangement.
- It may be one that you agree yourselves (private agreement) or one you arrange through the courts (consent order) or one you arrange with help from the statutory maintenance service operated by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division.
- The important thing is that the final agreement is one you both agree to and provides regular and reliable financial support to help with the child’s living costs.
Child maintenance can make a significant difference to a child’s wellbeing and the quality of family relationships. A parent who does not live with their child still has a financial responsibility for the child.
The Child Maintenance Information and Support Service can help you decide on the best maintenance arrangement for you and your family.