It`s up to you and the other parent how quickly you make a family agreement, but it`s important for your child`s well-being that an agreement is reached as quickly as possible. It`s a good idea to write down what you agree with and write down all the discussions you`ve had. This could help if you have disagreements in the future. A family-based agreement is not final. If that doesn`t work, contact Child Maintenance Choices for your other options, including asking the Child Maintenance Service to enter into a support contract. Mothers and fathers should continue to contribute to the maintenance of children under the age of 16 or under 20 who are in full-time training (but not higher than the baccalaureate or the same level). You have entered into your agreement through mediation and have received legal aid for mediation If you decide that you wish to retain your private agreement as a legally binding agreement, we strongly recommend that you speak to a lawyer first. If you`re not sure if a private agreement is right for you, check how to choose a child support contract. Parent – Normally, the parent is the child`s biological parent, but you don`t need to be biologically related to the child to be considered a parent.

For more information, see Children and the law: parental responsibility. There are currently three different systems for calculating child maintenance. The scheme that applies to you depends on when you applied and whether you applied to the CSA or CMS. Use the child maintenance calculator to get an idea of how much you could pay or receive. The CMS offers an outright calculation service called Direct Maintenance. This means that the CMS prepares the amount of maintenance of the child due, but you pay one another directly and not through the CMS. Direct Maintenance is only suitable if you are happy to agree among your own when and how the money will be paid. Child Maintenance Service (CMS) – This is a government-run service in order to organize and house the children of the non-resident parent and pay it to the parent who receives if necessary. Our experienced family law lawyers can also help you make your child support contract mandatory by asking the court for one minute of the agreement. This means that if one of the parents does not respect the agreement, it can be imposed by judicial means. The CSA and CMS only deal with maintenance claims for which both parents have their habitual residence in the UK, with certain exceptions. Exceptions are cases where a parent works abroad for the government (for example.

B a diplomat), the armed forces, a company established in the United Kingdom or a secondment for certain organisations (e.g. Β local authorities). The main and quite significant disadvantage of a family-based support agreement is that it is not legally binding or enforceable. This means that if a party stops paying, there is no way to force it to do so. This type of informal agreement would be difficult even in situations where an agreement is unlikely or impossible. For example, if a partner has left an abusive relationship in which they would not be sure if they are in contact with their ex-partner, or if there are different conceptions of what adequate financial support is. . . .