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Hello
Mr boy lives with his mum. Full time. I see him a lot. He is 17. I love him loads.
He goes to college. But he has given up one of his subjects. He tells me he does only ten hours a week. Is it true, That he should do 12 hours of college or more a week. For me to stay on the child maintenance system. I told the CMS. But they rejected it in a flash. Strait no from ex wife. This is not true. Rubbish. All the years I being doing this. Ex wife side again. Trust me. Its been hard. Fed-up with it.
All the dads out there. Keep with it. Some of the stories I read on here. Breaks my heart.
Kind regards
Mark
hi,
When does child maintenance stop?
If child maintenance has been paid under a Child Maintenance Service Agreement, then the law states that maintenance will be paid until:
- The child is 16 years old.
- The child is 20 years old if they continue in full-time education to the end of A- levels. This implies that child maintenance ends once the child finishes their A-level.
Nevertheless, it is a cliché that children’s maintenance ceases without exception when they leave school after A-levels.
The order can continue if the non-resident parent is unwilling to proceed with the financial assistance through a voluntary agreement. It is possible to apply to the court for a maintenance order. This can cover the child’s time in higher institutions.
However, for this to be binding, you will need to apply before the child turns 18. If you have an existing order in place, you must apply to the court before the terms and conditions of that order expire.
Other cases where child maintenance cease
- If the child relocates from the UK.
- If the non-resident parent vacates the UK (except if there are extended jurisdiction rules).
- Adoption of the child.
- If both parents start cohabiting.
- When the parents equally care for the child.
- Through an application, which can be drafted anytime to put a halt to CMS implementation. Nonetheless, it is subject to some exceptions.
- Court order. The maintenance payment will be annulled immediately after the passing of the person liable to make the payment.
What about higher education?
Some parents may have reached a consensus on a divorce settlement. This entails provisions for child maintenance that covers the university fee.
However, not all of the parents know about this as the agreement carries a clause which specifies that support continues “to the age of 18 or full-time tertiary education, whichever shall be the last to occur.”
When a court makes a financial order when a child is still relatively young, it is very hard to make higher education provision because it is not verified whether the child will further their study.
Hence, many orders will contain a phrase such as “to the age of 18 or until the child finishes full-time tertiary education, whichever shall be the last to occur.”
The question, however, is “what is full-time education?” There is no definite answer, as many university courses use less than 21 hours a week for structured learning. It will be great to check the phrasing of the order if the child is approaching the age of 17 or he/she already speculates about going to the University.
You can also apply to the court for maintenance from the non-resident parent if your child chooses to attend University. The court has the power to lengthen the child maintenance to cover the period of higher education. This is done if the non-resident parent can cover the costs to be incurred.
The court will evaluate the profound needs of the child for support. Although the student loans may be available, the court might still rule that the other parent must pay.
Child Benefit when your child turns 16
Your Child Benefit stops on 31 August on or after your child’s 16th birthday if they leave education or training. It continues if they stay in approved education or training, but you must tell the Child Benefit Office.
You’ll be sent a letter in your child’s last year at school asking you to confirm their plans.
This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).
Approved education
Education must be full-time (more than an average of 12 hours a week supervised study or course-related work experience) and can include:
- A levels or similar, for example Pre-U, International Baccalaureate
- T levels
- Scottish Highers
- NVQs and other vocational qualifications up to level 3
- home education - if it started before your child turned 16 or after 16 if they have special needs
- traineeships in England
Courses are not approved if paid for by an employer or ‘advanced’, for example a university degree or BTEC Higher National Certificate.
Tell the Child Benefit Office if your child is:
Your child must be accepted onto the course before they turn 19.
Approved training
Approved training should be unpaid and can include:
- Foundation Apprenticeships or Traineeships in Wales
- Employability Fund programmes in Scotland
- PEACE IV Children and Young People 2.1, Training for Success, or Skills for Life and Work in Northern Ireland
Courses that are part of a job contract are not approved.
Tell the Child Benefit Office if your child is:
Your child must be accepted onto the training before they turn 19.
Temporary breaks
Tell the Child Benefit Office about breaks in your child’s education or training, for example if they change college. You might get Child Benefit during the break.
When approved education or training ends
When your child leaves approved education or training, payments will stop at the end of February, 31 May, 31 August or 30 November (whichever comes first).
Apply for an extension
You could get Child Benefit for 20 weeks (called an ‘extension’) if your child leaves approved education or training and either:
- registers with their local careers service, Connexions (or a similar organisation in Northern Ireland, the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein)
- signed up to join the armed forces
You can either:
To qualify your child must:
- be 16 or 17
- work less than 24 hours a week
- not get certain benefits (for example Income Support)
You must have been entitled to Child Benefit immediately before they left the approved education or training and apply for it within 3 months of them leaving.
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