What you need to know about child maintenance and education costs - Palmers Solicitors
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What you need to know about child maintenance and education costs

What you need to know about child maintenance and education costs

Following the breakdown of a relationship or a separation, your mind is likely to turn to your child’s living expenses and how they are going to be supported.

One aspect of these costs which is often overlooked is education costs, although they apply to almost all children of separating parents.

Our Head of Family Law, Karen Bishop, explains what obligations you and your former partner have towards your child and their education in particular.

The legal framework – Child Support Act 1991

Child maintenance is the system through which both parents pay their child’s living expenses when one parent does not live with the child.

The Child Support Act 1991 serves as the cornerstone for child maintenance obligations.

It established the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), which is responsible for ensuring that non-residential parents contribute financially to their child’s upbringing.

The CMS uses a specific formula to calculate the amount of child maintenance payable, taking into account the non-residential parent’s income, the number of children, and other relevant factors.

Statutory obligations for child maintenance

The obligation to pay child maintenance generally continues until the child turns 16 or up to 20 if they are in approved full-time education or training.

Failure to comply with these obligations can result in enforcement actions, including deductions from earnings, benefit reductions or even legal proceedings.

Educational costs

Day-to-day educational expenses

The legal presumption is that day-to-day educational expenses such as uniforms, stationery, and lunch money are covered by the child maintenance payments made under the Child Support Act.

The parent with whom the child lives, uses the child maintenance payments to manage these costs.

School trips and extracurricular activities

The costs associated with school trips and extracurricular activities are not explicitly covered by statutory child maintenance payments.

These are considered ‘special expenses’ and usually require a separate agreement between both parents.

In some cases, a Specific Issue Order may be sought from the family court to resolve disagreements.

You may also agree informally through mediation to cover certain costs between yourself and your former partner.

Private education and tuition fees

If a child attends a private institution, the tuition fees are generally not included in the standard child maintenance calculations by the CMS.

Both parents should ideally enter into a legally binding agreement, such as a Consent Order, to outline the division of these additional costs.

Failure to reach an agreement may mean court intervention.

Higher education

The statutory obligation for child maintenance ceases when the child enters higher education, even if they are under the age of 20.

However, under the Family Law Reform Act 1987, parents may still have a financial obligation to support their child through university.

This can be formalised through a court order, specifying contributions to tuition fees, living expenses, or both.

A separation will inevitably cause a number of things for both individuals to think about, so it is important that the legal matters behind child maintenance and education costs are fully understood.

The Child Support Act 1991 and the Family Law Reform Act 1987, provides a strong framework for these financial obligations.

Our expert legal team can provide advice tailored to your specific circumstances, so please contact us today.