Child Support Act 1991
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1991 c. 48 |
| Year | 1991 |
Child Support Act 1991
1991 CHAPTER 48
An Act to make provision for the assessment, collection and enforcement of periodical maintenance payable by certain parents with respect to children of theirs who are not in their care; for the collection and enforcement of certain other kinds of maintenance; and for connected purposes.
[25th July 1991]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
The basic principles
1 The duty to maintain.
(1) For the purposes of this Act, each parent of a qualifying child is responsible for maintaining him.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, an absent parent shall be taken to have met his responsibility to maintain any qualifying child of his by making periodical payments of maintenance with respect to the child of such amount, and at such intervals, as may be determined in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(3) Where a maintenance assessment made under this Act requires the making of periodical payments, it shall be the duty of the absent parent with respect to whom the assessment was made to make those payments.
2 Welfare of children: the general principle.
2. Where, in any case which falls to be dealt with under this Act, the Secretary of State or any child support officer is considering the exercise of any discretionary power conferred by this Act, he shall have regard to the welfare of any child likely to be affected by his decision.
3 Meaning of certain terms used in this Act.
(1) A child is a ‘qualifying child’ if—
(a) one of his parents is, in relation to him, an absent parent; or
(b) both of his parents are, in relation to him, absent parents.
(2) The parent of any child is an ‘absent parent’, in relation to him, if—
(a) that parent is not living in the same household with the child; and
(b) the child has his home with a person who is, in relation to him, a person with care.
(3) A person is a ‘person with care’, in relation to any child, if he is a person—
(a) with whom the child has his home;
(b) who usually provides day to day care for the child (whether exclusively or in conjunction with any other person); and
(c) who does not fall within a prescribed category of person.
(4) The Secretary of State shall not, under subsection (3)(c), prescribe as a category—
(a) parents;
(b) guardians;
(c) persons in whose favour residence orders under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 are in force;
(d) in Scotland, persons having the right to custody of a child.
(5) For the purposes of this Act there may be more than one person with care in relation to the same qualifying child.
(6) Periodical payments which are required to be paid in accordance with a maintenance assessment are referred to in this Act as ‘child support maintenance’.
(7) Expressions are defined in this section only for the purposes of this Act.
4 Child support maintenance.
(1) A person who is, in relation to any qualifying child or any qualifying children, either the person with care or the absent parent may apply to the Secretary of State for a maintenance assessment to be made under this Act with respect to that child, or any of those children.
(2) Where a maintenance assessment has been made in response to an application under this section the Secretary of State may, if the person with care or absent parent with respect to whom the assessment was made applies to him under this subsection, arrange for—
(a) the collection of the child support maintenance payable in accordance with the assessment;
(b) the enforcement of the obligation to pay child support maintenance in accordance with the assessment.
(3) Where an application under subsection (2) for the enforcement of the obligation mentioned in subsection (2)(b) authorises the Secretary of State to take steps to enforce that obligation whenever he considers it necessary to do so, the Secretary of State may act accordingly.
(4) A person who applies to the Secretary of State under this section shall, so far as that person reasonably can, comply with such regulations as may be made by the Secretary of State with a view to the Secretary of State or the child support officer being provided with the information which is required to enable—
(a) the absent parent to be traced (where that is necessary);
(b) the amount of child support maintenance payable by the absent parent to be assessed; and
(c) that amount to be recovered from the absent parent.
(5) Any person who has applied to the Secretary of State under this section may at any time request him to cease acting under this section.
(6) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to comply with any request made under subsection (5) (but subject to any regulations made under subsection (8)).
(7) The obligation to provide information which is imposed by subsection (4)—
(a) shall not apply in such circumstances as may be prescribed; and
(b) may, in such circumstances as may be prescribed, be waived by the Secretary of State.
(8) The Secretary of State may by regulations make such incidental, supplemental or transitional provision as he thinks appropriate with respect to cases in which he is requested to cease to act under this section.
(9) No application may be made under this section if there is in force with respect to the person with care and absent parent in question a maintenance assessment made in response to an application under section 6.
5 Child support maintenance: supplemental provisions.
(1) Where—
(a) there is more than one person with care of a qualifying child; and
(b) one or more, but not all, of them have parental responsibility for (or, in Scotland, parental rights over) the child;
no application may be made for a maintenance assessment with respect to the child by any of those persons who do not have parental responsibility for (or, in Scotland, parental rights over) the child.
(2) Where more than one application for a maintenance assessment is made with respect to the child concerned, only one of them may be proceeded with.
(3) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision as to which of two or more applications for a maintenance assessment with respect to the same child is to be proceeded with.
6 Applications by those receiving benefit.
(1) Where income support, family credit or any other benefit of a prescribed kind is claimed by or in respect of, or paid to or in respect of, the parent of a qualifying child she shall, if—
(a) she is a person with care of the child; and
(b) she is required to do so by the Secretary of State,
authorise the Secretary of State to take action under this Act to recover child support maintenance from the absent parent.
(2) The Secretary of State shall not require a person (‘the parent’) to give him the authorisation mentioned in subsection (1) if he considers that there are reasonable grounds for believing that—
(a) if the parent were to be required to give that authorisation; or
(b) if she were to give it,
there would be a risk of her, or of any child living with her, suffering harm or undue distress as a result.
(3) Subsection (2)...
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