The Child Support Maintenance Calculation Regulations 2012 introduced specific rules for cases where parents share a child’s care.
Where the CMS accepts that both parents provide equal day-to-day care, there may be no child maintenance liability for that child.
However, proving equal shared care is not always as straightforward as showing an equal number of overnight stays.
What Does 50/50 Equal Shared Care Mean?
Many clients tell us that they agreed to a 50/50 care arrangement when they separated.
They often expect the CMS to treat this automatically as equal shared care. However, the CMS may still need to establish how the parents divide the child’s day-to-day care.
This distinction can have a significant effect on the child maintenance calculation.
Are Equal Overnight Stays Enough?
An equal number of overnight stays does not automatically mean that no child maintenance is payable.
The CMS also considers who provides the child’s day-to-day care.
For example, the CMS may look at the wider pattern of caring responsibilities rather than simply counting overnight stays.
If the CMS decides that one parent provides more day-to-day care, it may continue to identify the other as the paying parent. The normal shared care rules may then reduce the maintenance calculation according to the number of overnight stays.
By contrast, where the CMS accepts that both parents provide equal day-to-day care, there may be no maintenance liability for that child.
What Evidence Can the CMS Consider?
Parents can provide evidence showing how they divide day-to-day care.
Depending on the circumstances, relevant evidence may include:
- School and nursery arrangements.
- Medical and dental appointments.
- Regular daytime care.
- Transport to and from school or activities.
- Responsibility for clothing and everyday essentials.
- Communications about the child’s routine and care.
- Evidence of overnight arrangements.
- Other records showing each parent’s regular caring responsibilities.
The CMS can consider the overall care arrangements when deciding whether one parent provides a greater level of care.
Child Benefit may also be relevant in some Regulation 50 cases. However, the wider evidence about day-to-day care can be important when determining which parent should be treated as the paying parent.
Regulations 46, 47 and 50
Different regulations can apply depending on the circumstances.
Regulation 46 deals with reductions to maintenance where there is shared care.
Regulation 47 covers assumptions about the number of shared care nights in certain cases.
Regulation 50 deals with situations where both parents provide a home for the child and share the child’s day-to-day care.
You can read our other guides for more information about how Regulations 46, 47 and 50 may affect your case.
How CMSAS Can Help
We can help you present evidence to the CMS about the actual care arrangements.
Our consultants understand Regulation 50 and the CMS decision-making process. We can help you identify evidence that supports your position where you believe the CMS should recognise genuinely equal shared care.
We can also assist where the dispute concerns shared care, the identity of the main carer or the way the CMS has applied the shared care rules.
If you need help with a 50/50 equal shared care case, contact CMSAS to discuss your circumstances.