My Ex Will Not Pay Child Support. What Can I Do?

What is child support and who pays it?

Child maintenance or child support is paid by the parent who does not have the day-to-day care of the child(ren) to the parent who does. Child support can either be agreed privately between the parents or through the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).

How do I claim child support?

Parents may choose to rely on the CMS calculator only to calculate the amount that needs to be paid by the paying parent or rely on the CMS Collect and Pay service to collect money from the paying parent and pay it into an account of the other parent. The CMS will take a small percentage of the collected payments for the use of this service.

If payments are collected via the CMS Collect and Pay service, then the CMS can take action against the paying parent themselves, including court action. If a private agreement is preferable, then one of our legal professionals can assist you in putting such an agreement in place.

What if the paying parent does not pay?

As stated above, the CMS will take action themselves if payments are collected using their Collect and Pay service. Where there is a private agreement, a letter from a solicitor will be a good starting point to encourage the paying parent to make good on the agreement. If they do not pay or will pay but not pay any arrears, then an application can be made to the court requesting that the agreement be enforced and that any arrears should be paid; interest may also be added. Such an order can be relied upon in the future for any further non-payments.

If you would like to speak to one of our legal professionals about an ex-partner not paying child support, then please contact us free on 0800 8840 640, or call one of our offices. To make an enquiry via our website, please click this link https://www.everys.co.uk/contact-us/.