Child maintenance terms and their meaning
For parents involved in arranging child maintenance, below are some of the keywords you'll come across together with their meaning.
Child
For child maintenance purposes, a child is anyone under 16, or someone aged over 16 and under 20 who:
- is not married or in a civil partnership
- has never been married or in a civil partnership
- is in full-time non-advanced education or approved training
If Child Benefit is still being received, someone under 20 can still be regarded as a child for child maintenance purposes even if they aren't in full-time non-advanced education.
Child Benefit
This is a regular payment made to anyone bringing up children. It is paid for each child who is:
- under 16
- under 19 (under 20 in some cases) and in full-time education doing a course that is not higher than A-level or the same standard or on a Government-funded training programme
- 16 or 17 and has recently left school and registered with the Department for the Economy or Education Authority for work, education or training
Child maintenance
Money paid by the paying parent to the receiving parent towards their child’s everyday living costs.