Child Maintenance: When is capital, income?

Any income you have from employment, self-employment, property and investments is taken into account when working out how much child maintenance you should pay. This includes any income you receive from bonuses, overtime or commission. If you are claiming benefits, the amount of most benefits you receive will be included as part of your income.

Income is capped at £156,000 per year (£3,000 per week) before tax, which is the maximum income of the paying parent that will be taken into account for child maintenance. If the paying parent’s income is higher than £156,000, it may be possible to apply to the court for top-up maintenance.

Yes, child maintenance is calculated on gross income in England and Wales. The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has a formula for maintenance based on various factors, including how much gross income you earn, how many children you have, how much time the children spend with you and whether you are paying for children from another relationship. You can use the government’s online calculator to work out how much you should be paying in maintenance.

You can ask the CMS to take into account certain expenses you pay, which reduces the gross income figure that is used to work out child maintenance payments. These include:

• Boarding school fees
• The cost of travel to and from contact visits
• Extra costs for children with special needs
• Making mortgage payments on the home that the receiving parent and children still live in

Inheritance is not income and does not form part of the paying parent’s gross income used for calculating child maintenance. However, inheritances can be considered a source of capital for parents. This means the receiving parent can apply for a variation to take the inheritance into account if it exceeds £31,250.

Yes, you would still be required to pay child maintenance if your ex-partner remarries. The amount of child maintenance you are required to pay is based on your income and the number of children you have, not your marital status.

There is no set number of nights required for shared care in England and Wales. However, if the child stays with a paying parent for an average of one night a week or more (at least 52 nights a year), this can reduce child maintenance payments.

For example, where there are 52 to 103 nights of shared care each year, child maintenance is reduced by 1/7th for each child. For 104-155 nights, the reduction is 2/7ths. For 165-174 nights, it is 3/7ths, and for 175 nights or more, there is a 50% reduction in child maintenance.

If you have 50/50 custody and an absolute equal share for the care of the children, then you would not typically have to pay child support. Child maintenance rules assume that the paying parent provides day to daycare to a lesser extent than the receiving applicant.