# Child maintenance: how the Child Maintenance Service works out payments and fees

> When parents live apart, the Child Maintenance Service can work out a weekly amount from the paying parent's income. This guide explains the rate…

- URL: https://centiview.com/uk-money/child-maintenance-service-how-payments-are-worked-out
- Published: 2026-10-19T00:38:00.000Z
- Figures checked: 2026-10-19
- Edited by David A
- Topic: Life events (UK)
- Publisher: Centiview (Persie Ltd, London)
- General information only, not financial advice

When parents live apart, the Child Maintenance Service can work out a weekly amount from the paying parent's income. This guide explains the rate bands, shared care reductions and collection fees, as checked on 19 October 2026.

## What it is and how it works

Child maintenance is regular money paid by a parent who does not live with a child towards the child's everyday costs. Parents can agree an amount themselves, called a family-based arrangement, or use the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), run by the Department for Work and Pensions. An arrangement is expected where the child is under 16, or under 20 and in approved education or training. Maintenance does not affect benefits such as Universal Credit and is not taxable. The CMS takes the paying parent's gross yearly income (before tax) from HM Revenue and Customs information, converts it to a weekly figure, and applies a set formula.

The result depends on the paying parent's gross weekly income, whether they receive certain benefits, how many children they pay maintenance for, whether they support other children living with them, and how many nights a year the child stays with them. Student grants and loans do not count as income. Citizens Advice notes that the CMS usually makes its first assessment within about four weeks, unless it has trouble finding the paying parent, and then sends both parents a payment schedule.

## The rate bands and key figures

The CMS places the paying parent into a band by gross weekly income. Below £7 a week the rate is nil. From £7 up to £100, or where the paying parent receives certain benefits, a flat rate of £7 a week applies. From £100.01 to £199.99 a reduced rate applies: £7 on the first £100 plus a percentage of the income between £100 and £200. From £200 to £800 the basic rate applies, and above £800 the basic plus rate applies, up to a cap of £3,000. A receiving parent can ask a court for extra maintenance on income above that cap.

The basic rate is a percentage of gross weekly income: 12% for one child, 16% for two and 19% for three or more. Basic plus adds a further 9% for one child, 12% for two and 15% for three or more, charged only on the slice above £800. If the paying parent supports other children living with them, the income used falls by 11% for one other child, 14% for two, and 16% for three or more (for incomes from £200 to £3,000). The official leaflet is dated November 2023, so confirm current rates on the GOV.UK calculator.

> **Key numbers** As checked 19 October 2026. Flat rate £7 a week. Basic rate on £200 to £800: 12% (1 child), 16% (2), 19% (3 or more). Collect and Pay fees: 20% added for the paying parent, 4% taken off for the receiving parent.

## Shared care and other children

Overnight stays can reduce what is paid. Where the paying parent is on the flat, reduced or basic rate and the child stays overnight 52 nights a year or more, the weekly amount for that child is reduced by 14.29% for 52 to 103 nights, 28.57% for 104 to 155 nights, 42.86% for 156 to 174 nights, and 50% plus a further £7 a week for 175 nights or more. Payments cannot fall below £7 a week. Where the paying parent receives a qualifying benefit and agrees 52 or more nights, no maintenance is payable for that child.

## A worked example

These figures are illustrative only. Suppose a paying parent has gross weekly income of £500, pays for one child, supports no other children, and the child stays fewer than 52 nights a year. The basic rate is 12%, so 12% of £500 is £60 a week. If the child stays 104 to 155 nights, the 28.57% reduction applies: £60 multiplied by 0.7143 is about £42.86. With no overnight stays but one other child supported at home, income used falls by 11%, from £500 to £445, and 12% of £445 is £53.40. For £1,000 and one child: 12% of £800 is £96, plus 9% of the remaining £200, which is £18, giving £114 a week.

## Collection fees: Direct Pay and Collect and Pay

With Direct Pay, the paying parent sends the CMS-calculated amount straight to the other parent and no collection fee applies. With Collect and Pay, the CMS collects and passes on the money. GOV.UK states that Collect and Pay is the only option with fees: 20% is added to each regular payment for the paying parent, and 4% is taken off each payment for the receiving parent. In the example above, £60 a week means the paying parent pays £72 (£60 plus £12) and the receiving parent gets £57.60 (£60 minus £2.40).

The government plans changes. Its consultation response, updated on 23 June 2025, says it intends to remove Direct Pay, set fees at 2% for receiving parents and compliant paying parents, and keep 20% for those who do not comply, aiming for 2027 to 2028 subject to Parliament. These are plans, not current rules. The £20 application fee was scrapped in February 2024.

## Who this applies to, and who it does not

This guide describes the CMS in Great Britain and applies to parents who live apart, where the paying parent, receiving parent and child are all habitually resident in the UK. Citizens Advice says the receiving parent generally needs to have day-to-day care of the child and be entitled to Child Benefit for them, and that the CMS cannot be used where a court order for maintenance is less than a year old. Northern Ireland has its own service with similar rates. It does not cover private deals or court orders, which work differently.

## Common mistakes and where to get free help

- Treating an online estimate as a final figure: the GOV.UK calculator only estimates, and the CMS decision uses HMRC income information.
- Assuming that agreeing a number of nights informally changes the amount: the reduction depends on a court order or a parental agreement and the night bands above.
- Forgetting that the 20% and 4% fees apply only under Collect and Pay, not Direct Pay.
- Assuming reforms are already live: the 2% fees and removal of Direct Pay are plans for 2027 to 2028 at the earliest.

The Child Maintenance Service helpline is free from mobiles and landlines on 0800 171 2345 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, as listed by Citizens Advice). Citizens Advice and MoneyHelper offer free, impartial guidance on arranging maintenance.

## Check before you act

Rules, rates and fees change, and your own circumstances may differ from these examples. It can be worth confirming the current figures on the official pages linked below and using the GOV.UK calculator before relying on any number.

### Sources
- [GOV.UK, How child maintenance is worked out](https://www.gov.uk/how-child-maintenance-is-worked-out)
- [GOV.UK, How we work out child maintenance (step-by-step guide)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-we-work-out-child-maintenance/how-we-work-out-child-maintenance)
- [GOV.UK, Child Maintenance Service: making and receiving payments](https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance-service/payments)
- [GOV.UK, Government response: Child Maintenance, improving the collection and transfer of payments](https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/child-maintenance-improving-the-collection-and-transfer-of-payments/outcome/government-response-child-maintenance-improving-the-collection-and-transfer-of-payments)
- [nidirect, Child maintenance rates explained](https://nidirect.gov.uk/node/4872)
- [Citizens Advice, Applying to the CMS for child maintenance](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/children-and-young-people/child-maintenance1/getting-child-maintenance/applying-to-the-CMS-for-child-maintenance/)