Child Maintenance: The New Law

The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act radically changed the existing child support system by replacing the Child Support Agency with a new body, the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC). Child Maintenance: The New Law is a detailed account of this legislation. This invaluable and authoritative guide offers practitioners advice on the law, practice and procedure under the new regime which includes simplifying how child maintenance is calculated, encouraging parents to make their own child maintenance arrangements and introducing tougher enforcement powers to collect arrears of child maintenance from parents who fail to pay. There is also a section on applications under CA 1989, Sch 1 and a detailed chapter on appeals and judicial review. The book also contains the full text of the Act.

The background to and general principles of the Act; How child maintenance is calculated; Special cases: Revisions, variations and exceptions; Procedure; Voluntary agreements and the role of the courts; Disputes as to parentage; Appeals and judicial review; Collection and enforcement; Transitional provisions and miscellaneous matters.