The Child Maintenance Service Is Failing Too Many Children
It’s Time to Follow the Money
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) was created to ensure that children receive financial support from both parents after separation.
That principle is one that almost everyone agrees with.
So why are some children still growing up in financial hardship while parents with far greater financial means can, in some cases, be assessed on a declared income of just £12,570 ?
The answer is uncomfortable.
The current Child Maintenance Service largely relies on parents reporting their own financial circumstances and, in many cases, those declarations are accepted without independent scrutiny.
For straightforward PAYE employment, this may work. However modern finances are often far more complex.
Company directors, sole shareholders, business owners and self-employed parents can have income generated through dividends, retained profits, company assets, rental properties or other legitimate financial arrangements that are not always reflected in a simple taxable income figure used by the CMS.
This does not mean that everyone in these circumstances is avoiding their responsibilities. Most parents do the right thing.
However, the current system does not always identify cases where declared taxable income may not reflect a parent’s wider financial resources. The result?
Children can receive maintenance assessments that bear little resemblance to the true cost of raising them. No child can be properly supported on £83 per month.
That figure would not cover a week’s food shopping for many families. It certainly does not cover school uniforms, shoes, heating, transport, educational resources, school trips, internet access, hobbies, birthdays or the countless everyday costs of childhood.
Yet many parents are expected to make it work.
Survivors Are Expected to Become Financial Investigators
For victim-survivors of domestic abuse, coercive control, financial abuse and economic abuse, the burden is even greater.
Instead of receiving protection and support, many are expected to gather company records, identify business interests, trace assets, investigate shareholdings and challenge complex financial arrangements simply to secure fair child maintenance for their children.
That was never what the Child Maintenance Service was designed to do.
Government agencies should investigate complex financial cases, and not the survivors.
I know this first-hand. So do many other parents who have spent years fighting not simply for money, but for fairness.
The Court of Appeal Case That Has Sparked National Debate
The ongoing Court of Appeal case involving allegations concerning former Premier League footballer Wes Morgan has shone a spotlight on these wider issues.
While the allegations have not yet been determined and judgment is awaited, the case has prompted important public debate about whether the CMS places too much responsibility on receiving parents to uncover financial evidence themselves instead of carrying out robust financial scrutiny in appropriate cases.
Whether the outcome of that case supports or rejects those allegations, one issue is already clear: The current system is being questioned. And rightly so.
Stop Following the Tax Return. Start Following the Money.
Child maintenance should reflect a parent’s genuine ability to support their children, not simply the lowest taxable income that can lawfully be declared.
When complex finances exist, assessments should consider the wider financial picture.
The CMS should not wait for survivors to prove what government agencies have the power to investigate.
A Modern System for Modern Families
DN Family Law is calling for a Mandatory Three-Tier Family Justice and Child Maintenance Triage System.
Tier 1 – Standard Assessment
For straightforward cases where income is clear and undisputed.
Tier 2 – Enhanced Financial Assessment
Mandatory where there are indicators such as self-employment, company ownership, sole shareholdings, trusts, rental income, significant assets, disputed income, or concerns relating to domestic abuse, coercive control, financial abuse or economic abuse.
Tier 3 – Independent Multi-Agency Review
For the most complex cases involving suspected hidden income, safeguarding concerns or serious financial disputes, with court oversight and specialist financial expertise where appropriate.
Children Cannot Wait
This is not about punishing successful parents.
It is not about attacking business owners.
It is not about assuming wrongdoing.
It is about ensuring that every child receives fair financial support based on a parent’s true financial circumstances.
Children should never pay the price for weaknesses in the system.
The Child Maintenance Service was created for children.
It is time for it to work for them.
The concerns raised in this article relate to the operation of the current Child Maintenance Service and the need for reform.
References to ongoing Court of Appeal proceedings concern allegations reported in open court that have not yet been determined, and judgment is awaited. They are included solely because the case has highlighted wider questions about how complex financial circumstances are assessed within the current CMS framework.
Children deserve better. Survivors deserve better. The Child Maintenance Service can, and must do better.
Deanna Newell | Founder | DN Family Law
Advocacy for truth-tellers, survivors, and the children who deserve better
