| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Adjournment | When a hearing is stopped and put off to another day |
| Annual review | The yearly update of a CMS calculation using the latest HMRC income figure |
| Appellant | The person who brings an appeal |
| Arrears | Maintenance that is owed but has not been paid |
| Balance of probabilities | The standard of proof: whether something is more likely than not |
| Bundle | The numbered set of documents for a tribunal or court hearing |
| Cafcass | Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. Advises the family court about children in England. Cafcass Cymru in Wales. |
| CMS | Child Maintenance Service, part of DWP |
| Collect and Pay | When the CMS collects maintenance and passes it on, with fees |
| Consent order | A court order made on terms both parties agree |
| Current income | Income at the time of the decision, used instead of the HMRC figure if different by 25% or more |
| Day to day care | The overall care of a child, wider than nights alone. Decides who is the paying parent when care is shared. |
| Decision maker | The CMS officer who makes a decision for the Secretary of State |
| Default maintenance decision | A set weekly amount used when the CMS does not have income information |
| Direct Pay | When parents arrange payment between themselves after a CMS calculation |
| Directions | Instructions from a judge to the parties about the appeal or case |
| DMG | Decision Makers’ Guide: DWP’s internal guidance on applying the law |
| DWP | Department for Work and Pensions |
| Effective date | The date a maintenance calculation starts from |
| FHDRA | First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment, the first hearing in a family court children case |
| First-tier Tribunal (FtT) | The independent tribunal that hears appeals about CMS decisions |
| Flat rate | £7 a week, for paying parents on low income or certain benefits |
| Gross weekly income | Income before tax and National Insurance, after pension contributions |
| HMCTS | HM Courts and Tribunals Service, which runs the tribunal |
| ICE | Independent Case Examiner, who looks at complaints about DWP and the CMS |
| Liability order | A magistrates’ or sheriff court order confirming an amount owed, so it can be enforced |
| Litigant in person | Someone representing themselves without a lawyer |
| McKenzie friend | Someone who supports a litigant in person in court, for example by taking notes |
| MIAM | Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting, usually needed before applying to the family court |
| Mandatory reconsideration (MR) | A request for the CMS to look at a decision again. Needed before an appeal. |
| Non-resident parent | The legal term for the paying parent |
| Paper hearing | When the tribunal decides an appeal from the documents without a hearing |
| Person with care | The legal term for the receiving parent |
| Point of law | A legal mistake. The only ground for appealing to the Upper Tribunal. |
| Presenting officer | A DWP officer who sometimes attends a hearing to explain DWP’s position |
| Qualifying child | A child a calculation is for |
| Relevant other child | Another child the paying parent or their partner gets Child Benefit for |
| Respondent | A party to an appeal who did not bring it. In CMS appeals, the Secretary of State and usually the other parent. |
| SAR | Subject access request: asking an organisation for your personal information |
| Section 7 report | A report about a child’s welfare ordered by the family court |
| Set aside | Cancelling a tribunal decision because of a procedural problem, so the appeal is heard again |
| Shared care | When the paying parent has the child overnight for at least 52 nights a year |
| SoS | Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in whose name CMS decisions are made |
| SSCS | Social Security and Child Support, the part of HMCTS that handles these appeals |
| SSCS2 | The form for appealing a child maintenance decision |
| Statement of reasons | The tribunal judge’s written explanation of a decision |
| Supersession | A new decision made because circumstances have changed |
| Upper Tribunal | The higher tribunal that hears appeals on points of law |
| Variation | A change to the standard calculation for special expenses or additional income |
On this page