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Sorting maintenance out privately
There are lots of different ways you can arrange to pay or receive child maintenance. In fact, if the parent with care is not receiving Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and both parents can come to an agreement, you don’t have to involve lawyers or even go through us. You may want to speak to us, a family-law solicitor or an independent adviser before setting up a private arrangement.
If the parent with care is claiming either Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, their claim will also be treated as an application for child maintenance. Jobcentre Plus will gather child maintenance information from the parent with care and pass the details on to us. We will then contact the non-resident parent to arrange for them to pay child maintenance. In this situation, we make a full maintenance calculation using our standard process.
However, the parent with care will not receive full child maintenance payments as well as their Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance. This is because the Government keeps some of the money paid as child maintenance to make up for the money paid as benefits.
Instead, the parent with care will receive whatever benefits they’re entitled to, plus a child maintenance premium – any amount up to £10 a week of any child maintenance that the non-resident parent pays.
If you have come to a private arrangement with the other parent about paying child maintenance, you can normally change and use our services at any time.
Page topRelated information
- Read our leaflet
"What is child maintenance and how does it affect me?" [PDF 246Kb]
