Economic abuse

Economic abuse is a severe form of coercive control, often continuing after separation and sometimes through manipulation of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).

Signs of economic abuse include:-

Making payments inconsistently or attaching conditions to them

Withholding child maintenance payments, perhaps temporarily, to punish or destabilise the other parent

Under-declaring income — particularly common among self-employed individuals or business owners in order to reduce financial obligations

Intentionally plunging the other parent and child into poverty, while retaining financial control

These tactics are a form of post-separation abuse, and they disproportionately affect survivors, usually mothers, who are left without financial security &/or adequate income while caring for their children full-time.

Economic Abuse
& the Child Maintenance Service (CMS)

Economic abuse & the Child Maintenance Service

The Child Maintenance Service inadvertently enables abuse when it does not safeguard both parties fairly.

The key Issues are as follows:-

CMS calculates payments based on the number of overnight stays. This means the receiving parent can increase their payments by denying the paying parent access to the children—a practice that incentivises parental alienation.

There is no formal process for the paying parent to challenge false claims or access manipulation.

There is no fair sliding scale or room for reasonable negotiation, allowing financially abusive recipients to hold power without accountability.

The CMS does not protect against coercion—whether from underpayment or manipulation of access rights.

The Result? A system where either parent can use child maintenance as a weapon:-

The paying parent may underpay or delay, continuing control through deprivation.

The receiving parent may alienate the child from the other parent to increase financial gain.

Children become the collateral damage—used to punish or control rather than being protected.

Our Position at Deanna Newell Family Law

Here at Deanna Newell Family Law, we advocate for fair, trauma-informed, and coordinated practices across the family justice and child maintenance systems.

All forms of coercive control must be recognised by family courts—including economic and post-separation abuse.

Parents who under-declare income to pay less than £100 a month—or nothing at all—are using CMS as a tool of control. This behaviour often pushes children into poverty and prolongs abuse of the other parent.

Paying parents must be protected against the misuse of CMS and retaliatory alienation.

The CMS, CAFCASS, HMRC and the Family Court must work in partnership to identify abuse, prioritise child welfare, and protect vulnerable parents.

Children should never be used as bargaining tools, and their financial support must not be weaponised by either parent.

Children’s welfare must be at the heart of every decision, and not the financial advantage of one parent.

In many cases, paying parents are contributing more than £300–£500 per child per month, and with the cost of living rising rapidly, in particular since COVID-19, are struggling to afford to visit their own children or pay for birthday presents and yet the receiving parent can afford foreign holidays whilst working part time.

It’s time for trauma-informed, fair, and transparent processes that acknowledge economic abuse and parental alienation as real, harmful, and preventable malpractice.

If you are experiencing coercive control, financial abuse, or parental alienation — you are not to blame - and you do not have to face this alone.

Economic abuse

Economic Abuse & the Child Maintenance Service (CMS)

Economic Abuse
& the Child Maintenance Service (CMS)