The payment of maintenance for children is now governed by the Child Support Agency and involves a fairly complex calculation. However, the Child Support Agency will only consider when deciding the level of disposable income, an absent parent's gross income less tax, less National Insurance, less one-half of any pension payments, less housing costs. On occasions they will take into account factors such as the distance involved in travelling to work or to having contact with the children and also the possibility of property settlements which pre-date the inception of the Child Support Agency. Other factors can apply.

The parent with care can only seek the assistance of Court in respect of maintenance for the children if they wish to supplement a Child Support Agency assessment. This would usually be where they do not believe the absent parent is fully co-operating with the Child Support Agency or perhaps where the question of children's school fees need to be addressed.

If both parties have agree the level of maintenance for the child or children and the parent with care is not in receipt of Income Support, they can exclude the jurisdiction of the CSA by recording the agreement in any financial court order.
Disputes Concerning The Care of Children

The most common disputes between separating couples when it comes to children is the amount of contact the absent parent is to have with the children. This may be a complaint that the absent parent is not having enough contact or an absent parent is complaining that the parent with care is restricting or seeking to avoid contact taking place.

The laws governing this area are incorporated primarily in the Children Act 1989. It is a presumption of the law and the Court that contact between a child and its natural parent is good for that child. Only in the face of evidence to the contrary will it be considered that contact should not take place.

It is important for parents to remember that it is the child's right to have contact with their natural parents and not the parent’s right to have contact with the child.
Separation can be a difficult time and there is every temptation for parents to use the children either through contact or through running down the other parent to the children. We cannot emphasise strongly enough how damaging this can be to a child who is already struggling at the loss of a secure family unit.

The evidence available suggests that children cope much better when both parents are seen to be positive about the other's relationship with the child or children and that the parents are seen to co-operate in a civilised and adult manner when considering contact, holidays and other arrangements.

The position of the Courts is that they will not normally interfere with any arrangements between parents that are agreed. They will only make orders regarding the children if asked to do so and even then only if it can be shown to the Court that making an order is beneficial to the child.

If the Court are asked to decide on where the children are to live rather than the contact arrangements, it would be usual for the Court to appoint what is known as a CAFCASS Officer to investigate on behalf of the Court the views of the parent, the school and any other interested parties so that when the Court makes it decision as to residence of the children, it has the fullest available information available as well as a recommendation from the CAFCASS Officer. That Officer is generally speaking very experienced and one who has specialised in child welfare for many years

In addition to contact and residence of children, the Court are occasionally asked by parents to adjudicate upon other matters. For example, parents may disagree on the education or religious upbringing of the children or possibly whether one parent should be allowed to immigrate with the children to another country. These are all issues which the Court frequently has to decide upon and are well within their experiences.

One of the principal tasks of the CAFCASS Officer is to ascertain the wishes and feelings of the child or children in question. The older and more mature a child, the more likely their views are to be persuasive on the Court.

The Court will always consider the best interests of the child and those interests will always be the most important factor above all others.

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