Child maintenance covers how your child’s living costs will be paid when one of the parents does not live with the child. It’s made when you’ve separated from the other parent or if you’ve never been in a relationship. This is a financial arrangement between you and the other parent of your child.

North

Child Maintenance Choices provides impartial information and support to help you decide the best child maintenance arrangement for you and your family.

• Freephone 0800 028 7439 Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 5.00pm
• Text your number to 07860 098657 with the message “Choices” for a call back
• Email cms_choices@nidirect.gov.uk

See also

• Child maintenance: an introduction | nidirect
• How Child Maintenance Choices help families | nidirect

Cross Border issues – A reciprocal enforcement maintenance Order (REMO) is an international agreement between different countries that can help recover child maintenance from a parent living outside the UK.  A REMO can also help a parent living abroad claim maintenance from the parent living in the UK.

Contact the Northern Ireland Courts & Tribunals Service for more information, tel 0300 200 7812 or email reciprocalenforcement@courtsni.gov.uk

South

Parents can arrange child maintenance themselves, engage legal assistance to negotiate on their behalf or apply to the courts for a maintenance order.

Further detail is available at

• Maintenance orders and agreements (citizensinformation.ie)
• Maintenance | The Courts Service of Ireland

Cross Border issues – Ireland is party to various international conventions and there are also EU Regulations which facilitate the recovery of maintenance from abroad. If you want to recover child maintenance from someone living abroad, contact the Central Authority for Maintenance Recovery in the Department of Justice and Equality for help.
Tel: +353 (0)1 859 223 or email: mainrecov@justice.ie

Last checked November 2022

This webpage is for general information purposes only and while we endeavour to keep it up-to-date, errors may occur. It is very important that you check with the relevant body to ensure the information is current and is applicable to your situation.

If you would like to suggest amendments or highlight new information that could be useful to others please don’t hesitate to get in touch.