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Going separate ways

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27 April 2018 / David Burrows
Issue: 7790 / Categories: Features , Child law , Family
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David Burrows laments the unnecessary & harmful complexities of the child support scheme

  • Why a child support scheme and how has it developed over the years?
  • Assessment of child support maintenance by a formula, developed by departure (now variation) directions.
  • What of the rights of the child for whom payments are made?

On 3 April 1993 the Child Support Agency opened its doors for business. 25 years later, it has undergone three major amendments of the original Child Support Act 1991(CSA 1991), namely in 1995, 2000 and 2008. It has had various shifts of name and nominal administrator (under the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission took over from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, only to cede the work back to the Secretary of State, who has since then worked through Child Support Agency (again) and now Child Maintenance Service).

It remains technically and legislatively as dense a scheme as ever. Most parents are unrepresented, legal aid is rare (eg for the

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