February 2, 2018 4 comments
A week in family law We begin with the release of the latest child support/maintenance statistics by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). These statistics, which relate to the three months up to the end of September 2017, concern child maintenance arrangements made after parents spoke to the Child Maintenance Options (CMO) service. For…
January 27, 2018 2 comments
The overwhelming majority of ‘family-based arrangements’ between divorced parents work smoothly, the government has claimed. ‘Family-based arrangements’ are voluntary agreements between parents to pay child maintenance. They contrast with ‘statutory’ arrangements, in which the government intervenes and enforces payment on recalcitrant parents. According to new figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, 85 per…
December 15, 2017 3 comments
Plans to give the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) greater powers have been opened for consultation by the Department for Work and Pensions. The new measures would increase the Service’s authority in the collection and enforcement of child maintenance debts. The new powers would include: *The option to remove passports for up to two years from…
August 9, 2017 4 comments
As, I’m sure, most family lawyers will attest, and possibly contrary to the view of many of those outside the justice system, the vast majority of family cases are resolved by agreement. Only about ten per cent go to court, with the others being settled along the way. The simple reality is that most people…
May 19, 2017 0 comments
A Week In Family Law A multi-millionaire husband who was ordered to pay his wife the sum of £4.25 million after just 23 months of marriage has failed to have the award overturned on appeal. The husband, who is worth about £37 million, appealed against the award, claiming that it was more than was required…
May 18, 2017 21 comments
Around 16,900 children now financially benefit from voluntary child maintenance arrangements between their parents, the government has announced. Officially known as ‘family based arrangements’, voluntary child support agreements contrast with situations in which the Child Maintenance Service intervenes and enforces payment from the non-resident parent, who is usually the father. The Child Maintenan ce Service…
May 9, 2017 18 comments
“The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.” – Milton Friedman I wanted to say a few words about the recent report on the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) published by the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee, but I didn’t know where to start. The report, which looks at…
February 16, 2017 0 comments
ASK A FAMILY LAWYER In this regular column, Stowe Family Law solicitors answer readers’ questions on different legal issues. Today’s query goes to Jennifer Williamson, a senior solicitor based in our Winchester office. “My son and daughter are both teenagers now and my son will be going off to university soon. How does that affect…
February 9, 2017 3 comments
More than 30,000 parents have now set up voluntary child maintenance arrangements, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced. So-called ‘family-based arrangements’ are voluntary agreements between divorced or separated couples, in which the government does not intervene. In a new release the DWP announces that the parents of more than 15,900 children have…
December 15, 2014 12 comments
The ‘flagship’ idea behind the government’s reform of the child support/maintenance system is, of course, to encourage more couples to sort out arrangements between themselves, thereby saving the state the expense of doing it for them, via the new Child Maintenance Service (‘CMS’). As part of the reform the Child Maintenance Options (‘CM Options’) service…
