Child Maintenance Service
Disagreements about parentage
If you or the other parent in your child maintenance case denies that they’re the child’s parent, the Child Maintenance Service can:
- ask for evidence that proves one of you is not the parent
- tell the other parent what’s happened and ask for evidence to prove parentage
If there’s no evidence to prove you’re not the parent, the Child Maintenance Service can:
- ask you and the other parent to take a DNA test
- ask the courts to make a decision
When the Child Maintenance Service assumes who the parent is
You’ll be assumed to be the child’s parent if any of the following apply:
- you were married to, or the civil partner of, the child’s mother at any time between the conception and birth of the child (unless the child is adopted)
- you’re named on the child’s birth certificate (unless the child is adopted)
- a DNA test shows you’re the parent
- you legally adopted the child
- you’re named in a court order as the parent when the child was born to a surrogate mother
Paying child maintenance during a disagreement
If you’re assumed to be the parent
The Child Maintenance Service will work out a child maintenance amount. You’ll have to pay this if you do not have main day-to-day care of the child. If you prove you’re not the parent you’ll no longer have to pay.
If you’re not assumed to be the parent
You do not need to pay child maintenance until the disagreement has been sorted out. If you’re found to be the parent, the amount of child maintenance you have to pay will be back-dated to when the case was opened.
If you prove you’re not the parent
When this happens, the Child Maintenance Service may:
- refund the payments you’ve made since the date you denied you were the parent
- offset the amount you’ve paid in child maintenance against maintenance for another child you pay for
- refund the cost of any DNA tests arranged through the service
- ask the other parent to pay back any child maintenance to you