Child maintenance is your child's money.
Withholding it is abuse.

• The right to apply. Any parent with day-to-day care of a child under 16 (or under 20 in approved education) can apply to the CMS under the Child Support Act 1991. There is a £20 application fee — waived if you are under 19 or a survivor of domestic abuse.
• The right to a calculation using gross income. CMS calculates maintenance from HMRC-reported gross weekly income using statutory percentages (12% / 16% / 19% for 1 / 2 / 3+ children on the basic rate). You do not have to take the paying parent's word for it.
• The right to enforcement. CMS can use deduction from earnings orders, lump-sum and regular deductions from bank accounts, liability orders, bailiffs, driving licence and passport disqualification, and committal — all without you returning to court.
• The right to a fair, dignified service. Under the Customer Charter and the Equality Act 2010, you can ask for safe contact only via email, a single named caseworker, and never to be put through to the other parent.
• The right to complain and escalate. CMS complaint → Independent Case Examiner (ICE) → Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) via your MP.

• The £20 application fee waived.
• Collect & Pay by default, so you never share bank details with the abuser.
• A single named caseworker and a do-not-discuss list.
• Permission to use a "safe address" — your address is withheld from the paying parent.
• No requirement to attempt a "family-based arrangement" first.

• Direct Pay — CMS calculates, parents arrange payment between themselves. No collection fee. Risky where there is a history of non-payment or control.
• Collect & Pay — CMS collects from the paying parent and pays the receiving parent. Collection fees apply (20% on top for the paying parent, 4% deducted from the receiving parent). Recent reforms have reduced or removed those fees in DA cases — ask explicitly.
• Variations — either parent can apply if income is understated, the paying parent has unearned income (rent, dividends), assets over £31,250, or a "diversion of income" (e.g. paid through a company).
• Annual review — CMS pulls HMRC data each year. You can also request a mandatory reconsideration of a decision within 30 days of being notified.

• Every unpaid pound is arrears. CMS must move to enforcement; chase them in writing after 30 days of non-payment.
• Repeated late or partial payments are evidence of economic abuse under s.1(4) DAA 2021 and a course of controlling/coercive behaviour under s.76 Serious Crime Act 2015. Log them — date, amount expected, amount paid, your communications.
• Add a Form C1A to any family court proceedings citing economic abuse, with a chronology of missed payments and CMS correspondence as exhibits.

• Presumption of parentage. Section 26 of the Child Support Act 1991 sets out who is presumed to be a parent — being named on the birth certificate, a previous court declaration, marriage at the time of conception, and so on. Once a presumption applies, CMS proceeds and the burden is on the paying parent to displace it.
• How parentage disputes are resolved. Sections 27 and 27A allow the paying parent to apply to court for a declaration of non-parentage and to seek a scientific (DNA) test under section 20 of the Family Law Reform Act 1969. The court decides — not CMS, and not the abuser.
• The child's consent and welfare. Under section 21(3) FLRA 1969 a sample from a child under 16 can only be taken with the consent of the person with care, or (if refused) where the court is satisfied it is in the child's best interests. The child's welfare is the court's paramount consideration (s.1 Children Act 1989).
• Article 8 ECHR. The child has a right to respect for private and family life and to know — and stably to keep — their identity. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly held that long-established parentage may not be overturned lightly (e.g. Mikulić v Croatia [2002] 1 FCR 720; Mizzi v Malta (2006) 46 EHRR 27).
• UNCRC. Articles 3 (best interests), 7 (identity from birth), 8 (preservation of identity) and 27 (right to a standard of living adequate for development — and financial responsibility of both parents) underpin the welfare assessment.
• Maintenance continues. Maintenance is not suspended while a dispute is being investigated unless and until a court declares the paying parent is not the parent. CMS retains a discretion not to suspend collection where doing so would harm the child.

A DNA demand made years into payments, in close proximity to a family court application or a request for increased maintenance, is a recognised litigation-abuse tactic and should be set out in evidence as part of the pattern under Re H-N [2021] EWCA Civ 448 and PD12J.

• Children are recognised as victims in their own right. Section 69 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 amends the definition so that a child who sees, hears or experiences the effects of abuse is a victim of domestic abuse. Using money — including child maintenance — to control, punish or destabilise the child's home is part of that abuse.
• Article 8 ECHR. Every child has a right to respect for their private and family life. That includes stability in their home, their relationship with the parent who cares for them, and not being subjected to financial pressure designed to force a change of circumstances. Interference with those rights must be justified and proportionate.
• UNCRC Article 27. Children have the right to a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. Both parents are financially responsible for achieving this. Maintenance is not a gift from the paying parent: it is the child's entitlement.
• UNCRC Article 3. In any decision about maintenance, the child's best interests must be a primary consideration. A decision to withhold or reduce maintenance because the parent is angry, because they demand a DNA test, or because they want to re-litigate the relationship, is not a decision made in the child's best interests.
• UNCRC Articles 7 and 8. A child has the right to know and preserve their identity and family relations. A late paternity challenge that threatens the child's name, settled parentage and emotional security can engage these rights directly.
• When the paying parent refuses to pay. CMS must treat non-payment as a breach of the child's rights as well as the receiving parent's rights. Ask CMS to: (1) continue collection while any dispute is resolved; (2) record the pattern as economic abuse; and (3) enforce by deduction from earnings or bank account, not wait for you to return to court.
• Put it in writing to CMS and the court. In any C1A or witness statement, say clearly: “The children are victims of domestic abuse under section 69 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. Withholding maintenance is a continuation of that abuse, contrary to the children's rights under Article 8 ECHR and Articles 3, 7, 8 and 27 of the UNCRC. Their welfare, not the paying parent's demands, must be the basis of any decision.”

1. 1Reply in writing only. Use the template below — it cites DAA 2021, s.26 CSA 1991, s.20 FLRA 1969, Article 8 ECHR and the UNCRC.
2. 2Tell the CMS in writing that you do not consent to the child being tested, and ask them to maintain the existing calculation pending any court declaration under s.27 CSA 1991.
3. 3Log the request as economic / litigation abuse, with screenshots of any messages.
4. 4Take legal advice — Rights of Women, FLOWS or Citizens Advice can help.

Once you have sent the refusal, the abuse does not stop. These steps protect your position, keep the child safe, and make it harder for the paying parent to use the CMS or a solicitor to delay maintenance.

1. 1Keep every message about the DNA demand — screenshot it, save the original, and note the date and time.
2. 2Send the CMS a written refusal. Ask them to keep the calculation running, record it as Domestic Abuse Service Type, and not suspend collection without a court declaration.
3. 3Send the abuser's solicitor a separate written refusal. Do not agree to any private or solicitor-arranged test.
4. 4Do not allow the child to be swabbed, interviewed, or photographed without a court order and your informed consent.
5. 5Gather proof of accepted parentage: birth certificate, previous payments, CMS letters, court orders, cards and messages.
6. 6Ask the CMS for a named caseworker, safe contact route, and written confirmation of every step.
7. 7If payments stop or reduce, ask for enforcement immediately — deduction from earnings, deduction from bank account, or a liability order.
8. 8Start or update the evidence checklist above. Log every missed payment, every delay, and every new demand.
9. 9Get legal advice quickly — Rights of Women, FLOWS, Citizens Advice, or a solicitor. Ask about a Non-Molestation Order if the demands are harassing.
10. 10If anyone tries to approach the child directly for a sample, contact the police and the court on the same day.