[Solved] Help!!

Ultimately, it's a choice of paying more than you need to or paying what you need to. Ideally, of course, your ex would accept the CMS calculation and you're all happy, but if she kicks up a fuss, the choice is yours as to what to do. You are certainly able to open the case yourself (personally, I think it's better if you do as you can then close it later when the time arises) and there's a fee for this, but if you then go onto direct pay, then there are no further fees as long as you don't miss a payment.

I'd have a look at the sticky at the top - I think there's information about the new CMS system there.

Hi stressedtothemax

Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. I would like to provide you with some information to help you decide what kind of child maintenance arrangement will be best for you and your family.

Many families, like yours have, now decide to make their own child maintenance arrangements instead of involving the Child Maintenance Service or the courts. Although family-based arrangements are not a legally-binding way of arranging child maintenance, a lot of families feel that they work better and last longer than the alternatives. These types of arrangements have no set rules that you have to follow and can be quickly reviewed if any of your families circumstances change. A family-based arrangement does not only have to be about money, if you both agree it can include other kinds of support, such as helping out with school trips, providing clothes, shoes or other things that may be needed.

If your current arrangement is no longer working for you or the other parent you may wish to consider renegotiating it. We have some tools on our website that can help with this. One of these is the online calculator which will give you an approximate amount of maintenance that would be expected along Government guidelines. The calculated amount is based on your gross weekly income (income before tax and National Insurance, but after pension contributions have been paid). The figure is not set in stone, but it can be a useful starting point for your negotiations.

You may also find our Talking about money guide and discussion guide useful as they can be helpful with planning your conversation, as well as help you consider what you would like to include in your arrangement.

Some families find it helpful to make a written record of their arrangement once they have agreed the terms of it. With our family-based arrangement form, you can record the details of your arrangement and both sign it as a commitment to it. Although the form will not make your arrangement legally binding, feedback we have received from other families is that it makes the arrangement feel a little more formal and therefore more likely to be kept to. You can view all of our tools on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org/en/toolbox/index.asp.

If you find you cannot renegotiate an agreement that you are all happy with, as actd mentioned, you can make an application to the Child Maintenance Service. Something to consider when thinking about making an application is that there is an application fee of £20 that is paid by the parent who makes the application.

As actd explained, the Child Maintenance Service have a Direct Pay scheme. This is where they will calculate the maintenance for you and then you and the other parent decide how and when the payments should be made together. Direct Pay is legally binding, however, the Child Maintenance Service will not contact either of you again unless they are notified of any problems with payments or any changes to circumstances.

The Child Maintenance Service also have a Collect and Pay scheme. This is where they calculate, collect and pass on the payments for you. In addition to the application fee of £20 the Child Maintenance Service will start applying collection fees later in the summer too for Collect and Pay arrangements. They plan to charge collection fees to both you and the other parent for collecting and passing on child maintenance payments. This will mean that if you use the Collect and Pay scheme you will have to pay 20% in addition to the weekly maintenance and the other parent will have 4% taken away from the weekly maintenance.

The Child Maintenance Service also apply an enforcement charge for enforcement action where payments are not made in full or on time. The best way to avoid charges altogether is to keep or renegotiate your family-based arrangement and not use the Child Maintenance Service at all. However, if you find that is not possible, as actd pointed out, there will be no collection fees with Direct Pay arrangements, only the application fee.

If you decide to apply to the Child Maintenance Service your responsibility to pay starts from around when you contact them or they contact you.

You can contact us by telephone or email for the Child Maintenance Service Reference ID number you will need in order to make your application if you decide to ask the Child Maintenance Service to arrange your child maintenance for you. This number is personal to you and shows that you have spoken to Child Maintenance Options before applying for a statutory child maintenance arrangement.

You will find information about the choices that I have explained regarding how you can arrange child maintenance in our guide Information for parents living apart from their child. This can be viewed on our website at http://www.cmoptions.org.

For more information on the ways to set up child maintenance, please visit our website. Alternatively, you can call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on a Saturday. The Department for Work and Pensions have a web application ‘sorting out separation’ which you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is: www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.

Regards

William