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Hello All,
Any advice is appreciated.
Due to sickness, I've not been at work for three months but have continued paying child maintenance at the usual rate.
It's a bit tight with money for me at present and I'm not due to go back to work until the autumn.
Does anyone know whether I can pay a reduced rate or should I continue paying CM as normal and with no reduction?
Many thanks for you help,
Salad
Hello Salad
If you and the other parent agreed child maintenance privately via a family-based arrangement, you could try re-negotiating child maintenance if you are unable to afford your payments with you currently not working.
Where child maintenance has been set up with either the Child Support Agency (CSA) or the Child Maintenance Service, you will need to contact the respective organisation that is managing your child maintenance directly to discuss your query. You can find the relevant contact details on any letters that you may have received or you can visit Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/contact.
If you have set up child maintenance via the courts, in the form of a Consent Order or Minute of Agreement, you will need to seek legal advice with regards to finding out if your agreement can be amended to reflect your current circumstances.
To find out more about child maintenance, you may wish to visit the Child Maintenance Options website at http://www.cmoptions.org. You can also find their contact details listed on this site.
You may be interested to know that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have a new web application, 'Sorting out Separation'. It aims to make it much easier for separated parents to find the support they need, when and where they need it, and encourages them to collaborate on a range of issues. The link is http://www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.
Regards
William
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