1. Child support payments
Child maintenance is a general term used to describe all types of financial support paid for children, including voluntary arrangements and payments under a court order. In this Handbook, the term ‘child support’ is used to describe child maintenance paid by parents under the statutory scheme run by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), which is part of the DWP.
Some clients may have historic arrears from a previous scheme run by the Child Support Agency (CSA). All CSA cases have now been closed and ongoing arrangements have ended.
Parents needing ongoing child support have been encouraged to make a ‘family-based arrangement’. If a family-based arrangement is not possible, they can make an application to the CMS.