Making private arrangements for child maintenance
Where to find information on working out how much child maintenance should be in your situation and working out the cost of raising your children.
You can make a private arrangement with your child’s other parent about how to cover your child’s living costs if you both agree on the details. Many people are unaware that, if you choose not, no one else has to be involved.
You also do not need to pay maintenance if you share the care of your child equally, in prison, or a full-time student with no income. This can change.
Child maintenance private arrangements can be flexible, which means it can be changed if your circumstances change.
You can use the child maintenance calculator to help work out how much child maintenance to pay, available through gov.uk website. This is a guide only and using the calculator does not send your details to the Department for Work and Pensions.
You can access the child maintenance calculator through this link, on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/calculate-child-maintenance.
Tool to help with working out the cost of raising your children - accessible via gov.uk website.