Child maintenance is regular financial support towards a child's everyday living costs. It's paid by the parent without the main day-to-day care of the child to the parent with the main care.

As a parent, your financial responsibility for your child doesn't end when your relationship with the other parent ends.

You have two options for arranging maintenance. You and the other parent could make a private agreement between yourselves, which can be done in whichever way is best suited to your circumstances.

The other option is to arrange maintenance through the Child Support Agency (CSA). Some parents choose this option if they don't feel they could reach an agreement about maintenance themselves.

If you'd like free help with deciding what to do, Child Maintenance Options provides impartial information and support to help both parents make an informed choice about the child maintenance arrangement best suited to your circumstances.

Further information

Child Maintenance Options

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Married or not is part of LivingTogether - a campaign led by Advicenow.org.uk to inform cohabiting couples of their legal rights. The Nuffield Foundation and the Department for Constitutional Affairs supported One Plus One's development of material for Married or Not. The legal information on this site was checked by Sarah Forster.