Free Child Maintenance Calculator for Self Employed in the UK

Are you looking for a child maintenance calculator to use during divorce? Do you need to know how to work out child support if you’re self-employed?

You’ve come to the right place. Each month, over 8,700 people visit our website for guidance on similar matters.

In this article, we’ll take a look at:

• How child maintenance is calculated.
• How being self-employed affects child maintenance.
• Ways to make sure you don’t lose money in your divorce.
• Who decides on child maintenance payments.
• If child maintenance payments can be enforced.

After a divorce, people spend around 4.7 years renting, with costs totaling £40,890 outside London and up to £71,966 in London.¹ This highlights the need for informed decisions on child support and finances during this time.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you through this, giving you the best advice to keep your finances safe during a divorce.

Child maintenance calculator UK self-employed

There are child maintenance calculators online where you can insert your income and personal circumstances to get an accurate estimate of the amount of child support you could be asked to pay.

Or an estimate on how much you’ll receive if you’re not the paying parent. 

These online tools are helpful and in demand, just as this forum user shows:

Source: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/697829/child-support  

There are even child maintenance calculators for self-employed workers. The UK Government’s child support calculator can be used by self-employed workers too. 

How often are child maintenance payments reviewed?

CMS will automatically review your case each year.

Payments will also be reviewed if either parent applies for a variation or the paying parent has a change of circumstances that affects their income or expenses.

For example, if the child stays overnight with them more often. You should report a change as soon as it happens.

Child maintenance payments explained

Child maintenance, also called child support, is a regular payment from one parent to the other to finance the care of their joint children after a separation or divorce. 

Child maintenance payments must continue until the child is 16 years old.

However, if the child continues into full-time education, such as college or university, the payments continue until they reach 20 years old – or earlier if they leave full-time education. 

Both parents are obligated to financially support their children, but only one parent pays the other parent.

The parent who spends a lesser amount of time looking after their children will become the paying parent. 

For example, if the father takes care of the children during the week and the mother takes care of them on weekends, the mother will have to pay the father child support payments. 

However, there are cases where the mother and father take care of the children for an equal or almost equal amount of time. 

In these cases, the paying parent is the parent who isn’t registered to receive Child Benefit payments from HMRC.

But due to their heavy involvement in looking after the child, the paying parent in this scenario will receive a 50% discount and further discounts for each child they care for. 

How is child maintenance calculated if self-employed?

The CMS calculates child maintenance payments for self-employed paying parents in the same way as PAYE-paying parents. 

Instead of taking your annual gross income from an employment contract, they will take your annual business profit from your most recent UK tax return and then divide this amount by 52. 

This gives the CMS your gross weekly income per week as a self-employed worker. 

Due to the fluctuating nature of income from self-employment, the figure might not be correct every week.

But it’s the most accurate way of determining current gross weekly income.

If no previous tax return has been lodged because the paying parent only recently became self-employed, the paying parent may be able to prove their gross weekly income to the CMS.

Alternatively, they could be put on the default rate (see our table above)

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What income is taken into account for child maintenance in the UK?

Your gross weekly income is taken into account when the CMS calculates child maintenance payments. This is the income you receive before income tax or National Insurance is deducted. 

Most people in the UK don’t get paid each week, so CMS will usually take your annual gross salary and divide it by 52 to work out your weekly gross income. 

They will also include other income you frequently receive, such as income from a rental property or pension payments if applicable.

These will also be re-calculated as weekly income to work out the required child support payments. 

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Who decides child maintenance payments?

Child maintenance payments can be amicably agreed between the parents as part of their separation or divorce.

When parents decide on child maintenance independently, this is called a family-based arrangement.

But parents don’t have to use this method. They can instead enlist the help and support of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).

The CMS can calculate how much child support should be paid and even help with the transactions if needed. 

The CMS looks at a variety of factors to decide how much child support should be paid.

Even if you’re going to use a family-based arrangement, it can be beneficial to speak with the CMS for guidance. 

Can child maintenance payments be enforced?

Yes, there are different ways to enforce child support payments. 

It’s hoped that you can agree child maintenance payments and those payments will be made without issue. But this isn’t always how things pan out. 

Sometimes, you might not trust that payments will be made or have already experienced delayed and missed payments. And you may therefore want to take pre-emptive or retrospective action. 

Some of the common solutions are:

1. Include child maintenance in a Consent Order as part of a divorce in England and Wales

2. The CMS Collect and Pay Service

If child maintenance payments are not made, the CMS can take you to court to collect the unpaid amount. They can apply for a ‘liability order’; if the court grants it, legal action will be taken against you.

What is a Consent Order?

A Consent Order is a type of court order that couples can apply for if they have agreed on how matrimonial assets and finances will be divided as part of their divorce. 

In other words, it makes their agreement legally binding and cuts all ties to prevent claims after the divorce (yes, this would be possible in England and Wales otherwise!). 

The Consent Order can also include agreements about spousal maintenance payments and child maintenance payments.

But you should be aware that any child support agreement stipulated within a Consent Order is only valid for one year.

Consent Orders require a solicitor to draft the order and then an application fee. But you might qualify for financial help for some divorce services like these. 

What is CMS Collect and Pay?

Another option and an option if you’re not getting divorced is the CMS Collect and Pay service. This is when CMS will take the money from one parent and give it to the other. 

But it’s only available if you made an initial agreement using CMS Direct Pay, which is a type of informal agreement made between the two parents. 

CMS Collect and Pay will ensure ongoing payments are made, but it does come at a cost.

The paying parent will be charged 20% of their payment, and the parent receiving this money will be charged 4%. 

References

1. Money Helper – Divorce Costs