Financial Provision for Children

Mincoffs' family team have a wealth of experience in dealing with cases involving financial provision for children.

Where parties separate and one parent becomes primarily responsible for the children, the other parent is obliged to arrange financial provision to that parent for the benefit of the children.  It is common that most parties are able to reach an agreement in relation to financial support for the children.

Where that is not possible, in the majority of cases the matter is dealt with by the Child Maintenance Service, who will look at the non-resident parent’s income with reference to documents filed at HMRC and work out the relevant child maintenance that should be paid taking in to account any overnight contact they have with the children.  If however either parent lives outside of the UK  then the Child Maintenance Service will not be able to assist.

There may also circumstances where an application to the court is required to secure additional financial provision for children outside of the remit of the Child Maintenance Service such as where the non-resident parent is required to meet expenses in relation to a child’s disability, education or housing needs or where the non-resident parent is particularly wealthy. Schedule 1 Applications are most often made where parents have not been married.

In these circumstances, it may be appropriate for an application to be made to the Court whereupon the court may order monthly payments, the payment of a lump sum and make orders in relation to provision of property.

To speak to our expert family law team about financial provision for children, call 0191 281 6151 today.