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New living arrangements
We can reduce the amount of child maintenance the non-resident parent has to pay if:
- the child stays overnight with the non-resident parent on average at least one night a week, and
- the amount of child maintenance that must be paid is worked out using the the rules of the current scheme.
This is called 'shared care'.
If you share the care of your child with the other parent, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can use this information when we make the new calculation.
If the child or children spend an equal amount of time staying overnight with each of their parents (averaged over the last 12 months), we say care is shared 50/50. When this happens, the parent who receives Child Benefit for the child or children can still apply, as the parent with care, for child maintenance.
How is child maintenance reduced in current scheme cases?
In the case of shared care, we reduce child maintenance for each child by one-seventh for each night of the week that the child stays with the non-resident parent.
If care of a child is shared equally between both parents, we
- reduce the child maintenance by half, and
- then reduce the child maintenance again by another £7 a week for that child. The amount of £7 is set down in law.
Basic and reduced rate
Under the current scheme, we can reduce the weekly amount of child maintenance the non-resident parent must pay if:
- the child stays overnight with the non-resident parent on average at least one night a week, or at least 52 nights a year, and
- we use the basic or reduced rate to work out the weekly child maintenance payment.
This replaces arrangements where a non-resident parent had to provide care for at least 104 nights a year to qualify for any reduction in child maintenance. If you share the care of your child with the other parent, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can use this information when we work out the new amount of child maintenance.
To work how much we can take off the weekly child maintenance payment, we need to know the average number of nights the child stays overnight with the non-resident parent each week.
Where parents share the care of their children, we work out a daily amount of child maintenance (usually one-seventh of the weekly amount the non-resident parent must pay). For example, if the non-resident parent must pay child maintenance of £70 a week, this works out at a daily amount of £10 (£70 divided by 7).
Flat rate
If the non-resident parent or their partner is getting a benefit that means they pay child maintenance at the flat rate, and they share the care of their children for at least 52 nights a year, the non-resident parent will not have to pay any child maintenance.
You can find out how to contact us to tell us about the change to your circumstances here.
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