Child maintenance in Northern Ireland (NI)

In Northern Ireland, child maintenance is arranged separately from the rest of the UK, through the Department for Communities. You can agree it privately, through a court order, or through the statutory Child Maintenance Service. People often search for this as child maintenance NI, and the rules below are the ones that apply here rather than the gov.uk versions written for Great Britain.

The nidirect guides explain your options and how to apply, and you can estimate amounts with the UK child maintenance calculator.

• Phone: 0800 232 1956, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Relay UK: 18001 0800 232 1956. A video relay service is available for British and Irish Sign Language users (communities-ni.gov.uk).
• Calculator: estimate an amount with the child maintenance calculator, and see how it is worked out in NI.
• Apply: start with Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance, the free online service that leads to an application.

Contact details checked 7 October 2026 against communities-ni.gov.uk.

Northern Ireland runs its own Child Maintenance Service, with guidance on nidirect rather than gov.uk, though the sums are worked out in much the same way as in Great Britain. As elsewhere, a private arrangement between the two of you is always an option, and it is the one with no fees attached.

• You have three routes in Northern Ireland: a private arrangement between yourselves, a Consent Order made by a court (which involves solicitor, mediator and court costs), or the Child Maintenance Service (nidirect.gov.uk).
• The CMS works out the amount in six steps from the paying parent's gross yearly income, supplied by HMRC, with adjustments for pension payments, other children and overnight stays (nidirect.gov.uk).
• Direct Pay carries no collection fees, but on Collect and Pay the paying parent is charged 20% on top of their maintenance and the receiving parent has 4% taken off what they receive (nidirect.gov.uk).
• Easy to miss: missed or late payments can trigger separate enforcement charges on the paying parent, such as £300 for a liability order application, £200 for a lump sum deduction order and £50 for a deduction from earnings order (nidirect.gov.uk).
• You apply through the free, impartial and confidential online service Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance, which also helps you weigh up whether a family-based arrangement would work first (nidirect.gov.uk).

Checked August 2026 against nidirect.gov.uk.

Child maintenance is money towards a child's everyday living costs, usually paid by the parent the child lives with less of the time.

• You can agree an amount privately, use an online calculator as a guide, or apply to the statutory service if you cannot agree.
• Amounts are based on income, the number of children, and how many nights they stay over.
• Keep a clear record of what is agreed and paid.
• ParenThing can log payments so both of you have the same record.

A family-based arrangement is the option with no fees on either side, and in Northern Ireland it is the one the statutory service will ask you to consider first. It is not a legal document and either of you can walk away from it, so what makes it hold is being specific and writing it down.

• Use the calculator as a neutral starting point, so the number comes from a formula rather than from either parent.
• Agree the amount, the date it is paid each month, and the method, then write those three things down somewhere you can both see.
• Be clear about what the amount does and does not cover, for example uniforms, school trips, childcare or activities, because that is where most disagreements start.
• Agree in advance when you will look at it again, such as once a year or if either income changes materially.
• Keep a record of what was actually paid and when. If you later apply to the Child Maintenance Service or go to court, that history is the evidence you will be asked for.

Payments stopping is the most common reason a private arrangement in NI moves to the statutory service. You do not have to keep chasing it privately.

• If a family-based arrangement breaks down, you can apply to the Child Maintenance Service at any point through Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance (nidirect.gov.uk).
• If a statutory case is already open and payments are missed, the service can move the case to Collect and Pay, take the money directly from earnings, or apply to court for a liability order (nidirect.gov.uk).
• Tell the service about changes that affect the calculation, such as income, the number of children, or how many nights the children stay with each parent.
• Bring dates and amounts. A clear payment history is far more useful than a recollection of roughly what happened.

ParenThing keeps that record for both of you in one place, so neither parent has to reconstruct it later.