If you share care equally, you might expect the CMS to say that neither parent pays the other. Sometimes that is exactly what should happen. But the route there runs through a rule many parents have never heard of.
The rule
Regulation 50 of the Child Support Maintenance Calculation Regulations 2012 deals with cases where both parents provide a home for the child and share day to day care. The parent named in the application is only treated as the paying parent if they provide day to day care to a lesser extent than the parent who applied.
The Child Benefit presumption
The catch is that the parent getting Child Benefit is presumed to provide more day to day care unless there is evidence to the contrary. So in practice, the other parent has to show care is at least equal.
What day to day care means
It is wider than nights. The Upper Tribunal has said it is more than counting days and nights. Decision makers look at the whole of parenting: school, health, clothes, activities, illness, holidays, and who organises what.
Why parents miss it
Because the calculation letter talks about nights and bands, parents argue about nights. If you only argue nights, the decision maker may never consider the day to day care question. Raise it expressly: “Day to day care is shared equally. I should not be treated as the non-resident parent under regulation 50.”
What to do now
- Read the full guide on equal care and day to day care.
- Build a simple table of who does what, with evidence for each row.
- Raise the point at mandatory reconsideration, or ask the tribunal for permission to add it if you are already appealing.
