Changes to Child Maintenance Rules in 2026: How They Affect London Parents

Changes to Child Maintenance Rules in 2026: What London Parents Need to Know

If you are a separated parent in London, you may have heard that the child maintenance rules are changing in 2026. Whether you currently use the Child Maintenance Service or are thinking about it for the first time, these changes are worth understanding. This guide sets out what is changing, what it means in practice, and why many London families are choosing to agree maintenance privately, often with the help of London Mediation Service, rather than relying on the CMS at all.

We will cover the key rule changes, how London’s higher cost of living affects maintenance, and what your options are if the CMS route is not working for your family.

Changes to Child Maintenance Rules: What Is the Child Maintenance Service?

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is the government body responsible for calculating and, where necessary, collecting child maintenance payments from the non-resident parent. It replaced the older Child Support Agency and operates across England, Wales, and Scotland.

Parents can use the CMS in two main ways: a Direct Pay arrangement, where the CMS calculates the amount but parents make payments between themselves, or a Collect and Pay arrangement, where the CMS takes money directly from the paying parent and passes it to the receiving parent. Collect and Pay involves additional charges for both parents.

A third option, and often the most flexible, is a family-based arrangement agreed privately, without involving the CMS at all. This is where family mediation in London can play a genuinely useful role.

The Key Child Maintenance Changes in 2026

The 2026 changes build on reforms introduced by the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023, which expanded the CMS’s powers significantly. Here is a summary of what has changed or is coming into effect this year.

1. New Direct Deduction Powers

One of the most significant changes is the CMS’s expanded ability to recover unpaid maintenance directly from bank accounts. Previously, this required a court order. Under the new powers, the CMS can issue a deduction order without going to court first, meaning it can recover arrears more quickly and with less warning to the paying parent.

For paying parents who are already struggling with London’s living costs, this is a meaningful change. An unexpected deduction could affect rent payments, mortgage commitments, or household bills. Understanding your obligations, and staying in communication with your co-parent, has never been more important.

2. Expanded Enforcement Measures

The CMS now has a broader range of enforcement tools available when a paying parent falls behind. These include:

• Deductions from earnings orders (already in use, but now easier to apply)
• Lump sum deduction orders from savings and bank accounts
• Referral for driving licence revocation
• Referral for passport seizure
• Commitment to prison (as a last resort)

These are not new in principle, but the 2026 changes make them easier and faster to apply. The message is clear: the CMS is taking non-payment more seriously.

3. Charges for Collect and Pay

If you use the CMS Collect and Pay service, both parents are charged. The paying parent pays a 20% surcharge on top of the maintenance amount, and the receiving parent has 4% deducted from what they receive. These charges remain in place under the 2026 rules and continue to make the Collect and Pay route an expensive option for both sides.

For context, if the CMS calculates a maintenance payment of £400 per month, the paying parent would actually pay £480, while the receiving parent would receive £384. For London parents already managing high rents and costs, these deductions are far from trivial. You can read more about how maintenance is calculated on childmaintenance.org.uk, a useful independent resource for UK parents.

4. How the CMS Calculates Maintenance

The CMS uses the paying parent’s gross annual income as the starting point for its calculation. It then applies a percentage based on the number of qualifying children:

• One child: 12% of gross weekly income
• Two children: 16% of gross weekly income
• Three or more children: 19% of gross weekly income

Reductions apply if the paying parent has other children living with them, or if the children stay overnight with the paying parent regularly. The calculation does not, however, take into account London’s higher cost of living for the receiving parent. A maintenance figure that looks adequate in other parts of the country may not go as far in London, where childcare, school activities, transport, and even basic groceries cost substantially more.

Why London Parents Face a Unique Challenge With Child Maintenance

The CMS uses a national formula. It does not adjust for regional costs, and this can be a real problem for families in London.

Consider the typical costs a London parent faces when raising children:

• Childcare costs in London average around £1,700 to £2,200 per month for full-time nursery, well above the national average
• School uniforms, trips, and after-school activities at many London schools carry a premium
• Transport around the city adds up quickly, particularly for parents in outer boroughs like Sutton, Bromley, or Enfield
• Housing costs mean both parents are likely spending a significant proportion of their income on rent or a mortgage, leaving less room for flexible payments

A CMS calculation alone rarely tells the full story. For London families, the question is often not just “what does the formula say?” but “what do the children actually need, and what can we both realistically afford?”

This is where a private family-based arrangement, agreed through mediation, can be more practical than a rigid CMS figure. Both parents can take London’s real costs into account, agree on extras such as school trips or holiday spending, and build in a review process as circumstances change.

CMS or Mediation? Understanding Your Options

Many parents in London assume the CMS is their only option. In fact, you have three main routes:

Option 1: Family-Based Arrangement

You agree maintenance privately, without the CMS. This is free, flexible, and can be tailored to your children’s actual needs. It requires a reasonable level of trust and communication between both parents. Mediation can help you reach and document this agreement. The CMS’s own guidance encourages parents to try a family-based arrangement first, where it is safe to do so.

Option 2: CMS Direct Pay

The CMS calculates the amount, but payments are made directly between parents. There is a one-off application fee of £20. This gives you the structure of a CMS calculation without the full Collect and Pay charges, though enforcement options are more limited if payments are missed.

Option 3: CMS Collect and Pay

The CMS manages the whole process: calculation, collection, and transfer. This is the most structured option but also the most expensive, with the 20%/4% charge split described above. It is typically used when there is a breakdown of trust or a history of non-payment.

A useful comparison:

Route	Cost	Flexibility	Enforcement
Family-based / mediation	Mediation session cost only	High	Through consent order or court if needed
CMS Direct Pay	£20 application fee	Low	Limited
CMS Collect and Pay	+20% / -4% charges	Very low	Strong (new 2026 powers)

Can a Consent Order Cover Child Maintenance?

This is a question we hear regularly. A consent order can include arrangements for spousal maintenance and the division of assets, but child maintenance is treated differently. Under UK law, the CMS retains jurisdiction over child maintenance, and a court cannot make a binding consent order for ongoing child maintenance payments except in limited circumstances, such as where both parties have been represented by solicitors and agree to the arrangement for a fixed period.

In practice, many London parents include a child maintenance agreement as a schedule to a broader financial settlement, treating it as a binding commitment even if it cannot be fully enforced in the same way as a court order. You can read more about this in our complete consent order guide.

How Mediation Helps London Parents Agree Child Maintenance

Family mediation is not just for disputes about where children live or how often they see each parent. Financial matters, including child maintenance, are a core part of what mediators help with, and our London-based mediators have years of experience helping parents reach practical financial agreements.

Mediation is not about taking sides. The mediator’s job is to help both parents have a structured, productive conversation about money and children. In financial mediation, a mediator can help you:

• Work out what both parents can realistically afford, taking London costs into account
• Agree a base monthly payment and a clear process for reviewing it
• Discuss how extras, such as school trips, uniform costs, or holiday spending, will be handled
• Set out what happens if one parent’s income changes significantly
• Produce a written summary of what you have agreed (a Memorandum of Understanding), which can be taken to a solicitor for legal advice

Before you can apply to a family court on financial or child arrangements matters, you will generally need to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting, or MIAM in London. This is a one-to-one meeting with a mediator where you learn about mediation and whether it might help your situation. Many parents find that the MIAM itself gives them enough clarity to make an informed decision. You can book your MIAM online in a matter of minutes.

For a broader overview of how the financial mediation process works step by step, the Mediate UK financial mediation guide is a helpful starting point.

What If One Parent Refuses to Pay?

If a private agreement breaks down and the paying parent stops making payments, the receiving parent can apply to the CMS and, under the 2026 rules, the CMS’s enforcement powers are considerably stronger than before. The new direct deduction powers in particular mean arrears can be recovered much more quickly.

However, using enforcement as a first response is rarely in anyone’s interests, including the children’s. Where communication has broken down, mediation can sometimes help to re-establish a working relationship, even if the parents cannot agree on everything. Our mediators at our Waterloo office and our St Pancras office work with parents at all stages, including those where trust has broken down.

Frequently Asked Questions