New guide to help grandparents understand child maintenance payments

A new guide to help grandparents understand child maintenance payments is being published by the Child Maintenance Options (CMO).

Research shows that when it came to support and help, around 30 per cent separating parents turned to their mums and dads for advice, compared to around 27 per cent who consulted a solicitor instead.

The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that around 300,000 couples with children split every year.

With around 14 million grandparents in the UK and 2.6 million children living in separated families, the CMO is publishing Grandparents Guide to Child Maintenance’ to ensure that grandparents are properly equip to help guide their children through separating.

Chair of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, Janet Paraskeva says: “More and more grandparents and other members of the family and friends of separating couples are calling our helpline, seeking guidance on their behalf.

“A quarter of those using our website are 55 and over and many are grandparents. As a result we have decided to prepare this simple guide to child maintenance. We hope it will provide grandparents with the facts they need to offer the practical support that should lead to more children benefiting from effective child maintenance arrangements.”

The guide is broken into sections explaining about child maintenance and the different ways it can be arranged.

Different options include private arrangements, through the courts or through the CSA.

It also covers how to handle situations that can arise and how payments are calculated.

The free guide for grandparents is downloadable from www.cmoptions.org.uk or people can call Options on 0800 988 0988 and request to be sent one