Divorce is a difficult time for people that are going through it, and it can be hard for children to deal with as well. In addition to the emotional upset of all that is going on, for the parents one of the things that can cause a lot of worry and tension is the financial aspect of separation and how to fairly and correctly divide finances. Where children are involved, it is important to ensure that they are well cared for financially too, which is why child maintenance is something that will come up in divorce proceedings.
The Child Support Agency was started up in 1993, and they are there to ensure that child maintenance is paid to the children who are not living with the absent parent. If both parents have equal care of the children, then neither party will be required to pay child maintenance for them.
Maintenance and financial disputes are common when getting divorced and it is a good idea for parents to get a solicitor that specialises in family law and the divorce process like this solicitor Gloucester based firm www.deeandgriffin.co.uk as they will be a great source of support and information throughout the divorce process.
The usual thing to do before anything goes to court is for the divorcing couple to attend mediation. This is something that you are able to take your solicitor to if you wish to and is a requirement to help you to get financial and other arrangements sorted out without the need and of course the expense of going to court for it.
If an agreement is not reached this way, then the court will be able to make custody arrangements for children however it is the Child Support Agency that you will need to go to in order to apply to receive maintenance.
The child support agency will then be able to find out what the earnings of the other parent are and also will take into account the time that children spend in their care as well as if they have other dependent children that live with them. This can be a long process, but sometimes it is the best way to do things if other avenues have been explored and have not worked.