A
Skip the listAlleged non-resident parent
This is someone who is named on a maintenance application form as the non-resident parent, but who says that they are not the parent of the children for whom maintenance is claimed.
Appeal
The process of asking an independent tribunal to look at your case if you are not happy with a decision we have made.
Application for Child Maintenance
An application for a child maintenance calculation can be completed by:
- the person with care
- the non-resident parent or
- a qualifying child of 12 or over who lives in Scotland.
This process will be mainly completed by telephone without the need to fill in forms.
Arrestment
An arrestment is an action we can apply for in Scotland. It freezes money belonging to, or owed to, a non-resident parent on a given date until they pay us the amount that is owed on the liability order for child maintenance.
Assessable Income
Net income, less exempt income. We use assessable income to work out the amount of maintenance that must be paid. We do this by using a standard formula on the assessable income of the non-resident parent and the parent with care.
Assessment Unit
This is the name given to a group of people to whom the assessment relates. It normally includes the Parent/Person With Care, the Non-Resident Parent and the Qualifying Child(ren).
Attachment and auction
Attachment and auction is an action we can apply for in Scotland. Sheriff officers list and value items that:
- belong to a non-resident parent
- are kept outside their home, and
- can be moved.
The items on the list can then be sold at a public auction to get the money the non-resident parent owes as child maintenance.
C
Skip the listChild
For child maintenance purposes, someone is a child if they are aged:
- under 16; or
- under 19 and in full-time education doing a course that is not higher than A-level or an equivalent standard
Calculation
This is when we work out how much child maintenance must be paid. It is also called a child maintenance calculation and a maintenance calculation.
Charging order
An order from a court in England and Wales that puts a ‘charge’ on someone’s property, such as a house or a piece of land. The ‘charge’ is the amount of money owed. The court can also put a charge on any stocks, shares or other assets. This stops the owner selling the property, land or asset without paying what they owe.
Charge for payment
A charge for payment is an action we can apply for in Scotland which gives the non-resident parent 14 days to pay the money they owe, or 28 days if they are living temporarily outside the UK. If they don’t pay, we take further legal action to get the money.
Child Benefit
A regular payment made to anyone bringing up children. It is paid for each child who is:
- under 16
- under 19 (under 20 in some cases) and in full-time education doing a course that is not higher than A-level or an equivalent standard or on a Government-funded training programme, or
- 16 or 17 and has recently left school and registered for work or training with the Careers or Connexions Service or something similar.
Case Check
This is a review of the child support case conducted from time to time. It will take into account all changes in the circumstances of all parties involved.
Child Maintenance Premium
The child maintenance premium allows a person with care who is on Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance to keep up to £20 per week of any maintenance paid. If maintenance payments are less than £20 a week, a person with care keeps all of the maintenance paid.
Child Support Agency
Part of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, responsible for the calculation, collection and payment of child support maintenance under the Child Support Acts of 1991.
Child Support Agency Centre
Main regional processing site where maintenance calculations are made.
Child Support Maintenance
The correct term for maintenance awarded under the Child Support Act 1991, this is often called 'Child Maintenance'.
Child Maintenance Enquiry
This is completed by the non resident parent and can usually be dealt with mainly by telephone.
Child Support Officer
Child Support Officers are the people who decide whether child maintenance must be paid, and if so how much must be paid.
Child Support Reform
The new Child Supportscheme came into effect for new cases from 3 March 2003. Existing cases will transfer to the new scheme when the Government is sure the arrangements for new cases are working well. We will write to you to explain when your child support maintenance will change and what this means for you. Until then your present child support maintenance will remain unchanged by the introduction of the new scheme.
Civil partnership
Civil partnerships are a way in which same-sex couples can have their relationships legally recognised. Civil partners have the same rights as married couples.
Client Help Line
Telephone enquiry lines for queries about your case.
Client
Our clients are parents with care, persons with care and non-resident parents.
Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission
The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is the Non-Departmental Public Body responsible for the management of the child maintenance system in Great Britain
Child Maintenance Options
Child Maintenance Options provides impartial information and support to help all parents make an informed choice about the child maintenance arrangements best suited to their particular circumstances.
Collection schedule
A table that shows details of your child maintenance payments. It shows how much child maintenance is due and on what date.
Complaints Resolution Team
The Complaints Resolution Team try to sort out the issues the CSA team dealing with your case couldn’t settle. They also look at complaints about the way someone who works for us has dealt with a case.
Complaints Review Team
The Complaints Review Team look at complaints from people who are not happy about how the Complaints Resolution Team dealt with the matter. They check to see if the complaint was dealt with properly and to see if anything else can be done to help.
D
Skip the listDeduction from Earnings Order
One of the ways we normally set up payments if the non-resident parent is employed. Under a deduction from earnings order, we ask the non-resident parent’s employer to take child maintenance direct from the non-resident parent’s earnings and send it to us.
We can also set up a deduction from earnings order if the non-resident parent is employed and they have not kept to other payment methods or failed to agree a payment method.
Default Maintenance Decision
This is a decision made when the information needed to work out maintenance cannot be obtained straightaway.
(Deoxyribonucleic Acid) DNA testing
This is a test of the genetic characteristics of the parties involved and it is used to establish parentage of child(ren) in cases where there may be some doubt.
Departures
Departures allow us to take account of certain other factors when we work out child maintenance, such as extra costs the non-resident parent has to pay to visit the child.
Departure directions
We work out how much child maintenance should be paid using a standard calculation. Under the old scheme, departure directions allowed us to take account of certain other circumstances when we worked out child maintenance, and change the amount to be paid accordingly. Under the current scheme, departure directions do not exist but many of the same circumstances are covered by ‘variations’.
Direct Payment
Where maintenance is paid straight into a bank or building society, or Post Office® card account.
E
Skip the listEffective Date
Date from which the NRP's initial or revised payment is due.
Exempt Income
The amount of net income each parent is allowed to keep for their basic living costs, including paying the living costs of any of their own children living with them.
F
Skip the listFace to Face
This is the name given to the network of Child Support Agency staff based in local offices around the country who are available to conduct interviews on a 'face-to-face' basis.
Field Office
Local Child Support Agency offices based around the country - see also Local Service Bases.
G
Skip the listGood cause
Good cause means that there would be a risk of harm or undue distress to the parent with care or the children if the Child Support Agency tried to arrange child maintenance. Parents with care who think that this may apply to them should tell the staff at their Jobcentre Plus (benefits) office.
I
Skip the listIncome-related benefits
In all CSA leaflets, income-related benefits are Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and income-related Employment and Support Allowance.
Independent Case Examiner
This is a free service that looks into complaints about how we have handled a case.
Inhibition
An inhibition is a type of order we can use in Scotland to stop the non-resident selling or transferring any ‘heritable property’ they own until they pay the child maintenance they owe.
Initial Payment Period
This is the period between the Effective Date of the Assessment and the date that the first maintenance payment becomes due.
Interim maintenance assessment
If the non-resident parent does not give us the information we need to work out how much child maintenance must be paid, we can make an interim maintenance assessment. This assessment means that the non-resident parent may have to pay child maintenance at a higher rate until they give us the information we need to work out the right amount.
J
Skip the listJobcentre Plus
Part of the Department for Work and Pensions, responsible for the payment and administration of UK State Benefits.
L
Skip the listLiability order
A liability order legally recognises that there is a debt to be paid. It allows us to take further action to get the money owed. We must get a liability order before we can take any further court action.
Local Service Bases
Local Child Support Agency offices around the country where the Face to Face service is administered.
M
Skip the listMaintenance Calculation
This is when we work out how much child maintenance must be paid, it is also referred to as a 'child maintenance calculation'.
Maintenance Direct
When the non-resident parent pays child maintenance straight to the person with care, rather than through the Agency.
Maintenance needed
The amount of money needed to pay for the basic day-to-day costs of looking after a child (or children).
N
Skip the listNational Helpline
Telephone enquiry line for general queries about child support.
National Insurance Number
This is a reference number issued by the UK Department for Work and Pensions to people in order to conduct the business of the Department and also the UK Tax Office. It is unique to the individual to whom it has been assigned
Net Income
Net income is the weekly amount of income (usually pay or salary) left after taking off:
- income tax
- National Insurance
- half of any amount you pay into an occupational or personal pension. If the pension is set up to repay a mortgage, only 37.5% of the money paid into the pension scheme is taken away.
Income can also include certain benefits, tax credits and occupational or personal pensions. Bonuses and commission also count as pay or salary. We count Working Tax Credit as income if the non-resident parent’s earnings are higher than their partner’s earnings. If the non-resident parent and their partner’s earnings are the same, we include half of the Working Tax Credit in the child maintenance calculation. We don’t count Working Tax Credit as income if the non-resident parent earns less than their partner.
Net weekly income
The amount of income (usually pay or salary) left after taking off things like income tax, National Insurance and payments into a pension scheme. Bonuses and commission also count as pay or salary. We don’t normally count dividends paid to a director of a limited company, unless the parent with care asks us to do so.
We count Working Tax Credit as income if the non-resident parent’s earnings are higher than their partner’s earnings. If the non-resident parent and their partner’s earnings are the same, we include half of the Working Tax Credit in the child maintenance calculation. We don’t count Working Tax Credit as income if the non-resident parent earns less than their partner.
Normal deduction rate
The amount of child maintenance we take from a non-resident parent’s net earnings (that is, the amount they earn after taking off income tax, National Insurance and contributions to a pension) in each pay period.
Non-resident parent
The parent who the child does not normally live with.
P
Skip the listParent with care
The parent or carer who the child normally lives with and who therefore pays for most of the child’s everyday living costs. In some cases this can be a grandparent, guardian or other family member – who is known as the ‘person with care’, rather than the parent with care.
Person with care
Somebody other than a parent who has day-to-day care of the child(ren) for whom maintenance is sought.
Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
Ombudsman - investigates complaints (which must referred on behalf of individuals by MPs) about injustice caused by maladministration by government departments.
Partner
By Partner we mean a person you are married to, a civil partner of, or live with as if you are married or civil partners.
Person named as the parent of the child
In a child maintenance case, the person named as the non-resident parent by the parent with care, but who denies that they are the parent.
Protected Income
We work out a minimum amount of weekly income for the non-resident parent to make sure they are left with enough money to live on, and to support any second family they have, after paying child maintenance. This amount is known as protected income.
Protected earnings proportion
This applies to child maintenance calculations made on or after 3 March 2003. It means a non-resident parent keeps a minimum level of their earnings as take-home pay. The protected earnings proportion is 60% of their net earnings.
Protected earnings rate
This applies to child maintenance calculations made before 3 March 2003 and means that a non-resident parent keeps a minimum level of their net earnings as take-home pay.
Q
Skip the listQualifying Child
This is a child for whom Child Support Maintenance is payable under the Child Support Act.
R
Skip the listReciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders - or REMO
Is the process by which maintenance orders made by UK courts on behalf of UK residents can be registered and enforced by courts or other authorities in other countries against people resident there.
Relevant other child(ren)
Children who live with the non-resident parent and for whom the non-resident parent or their partner receives child benefit.
S
Skip the listSatellite Processing Centre
This is effectively a mini Child Support Agency Centre in one of the field offices and it processes case work similar to the teams at the Child Support Agency Centre.
Shared Care
Shared care is where a child stays overnight with the non-resident parent on average at least one night a week, or they spend half of their time with the parents equally. In the current scheme, if the non-resident parent shares care, we can reduce the amount of child maintenance they have to pay.
Supersession
This is a review of the child support case intended to take into account a particular change/changes in somebody's circumstances.
T
Skip the listThird-party debt order
An order the courts in England and Wales can issue against a third party, such as a bank or building society, to take money or other assets they hold that belong to the non-resident parent. We can apply for orders to prevent a non-resident parent withdrawing money from their bank or building society account.
The money is paid to us from the account. A third-party debt order can also be sent to anyone who owes the non-resident parent money.
V
Skip the listVariation
A variation can happen when you ask us to take account of other factors – such as extra costs the non-resident parent has to pay to visit the child. We use variations in the current scheme. They replace the ‘departure directions’ we used in the old scheme. However, there are some important differences between variations and departure directions. Most of these refer to the rules about what factors we will take into account.
