It\u2019s something that comes up a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they\u2019re not paying, why should they get to see the kids?\u201d Or from the other side \u2014 \u201cWhy should I pay if I\u2019m not being allowed to see them?\u201d<\/p>\n
When things feel unfair, it\u2019s a very natural reaction to link the two. But legally, they\u2019re treated as completely separate issues.<\/p>\n
Child maintenance is about making sure a child is financially supported.<\/p>\n
Contact arrangements are about the child having a relationship with both parents.<\/p>\n
They might feel connected in real life \u2014 especially when emotions are running high \u2014 but in legal terms, one doesn\u2019t depend on the other.<\/p>\n
That means you can\u2019t stop someone seeing their child because they haven\u2019t paid maintenance. And equally, not being allowed contact doesn\u2019t remove the responsibility to contribute financially.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it ends up feeling a bit one-sided.<\/p>\n
You might be picking up most of the day-to-day costs while the other parent is still seeing the children, or you might feel like you\u2019re being kept at arm\u2019s length but still expected to pay. Those situations come up more often than people think.<\/p>\n
The difficulty is, the law doesn\u2019t treat those two things as connected. They\u2019re dealt with on their own, even if that doesn\u2019t always feel fair in the moment.<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s already a child arrangements order in place, it\u2019s really important to follow it as it stands.<\/p>\n
Changing things off your own back – even if you feel you\u2019ve got a good reason – can cause problems and often ends up bringing things back in front of the court.<\/p>\n
If something genuinely needs to change, it\u2019s better to deal with that properly rather than taking matters into your own hands.<\/p>\n
Where arrangements are informal, things can feel less clear.<\/p>\n
But even then, stopping contact can lead to the other parent applying to court. And when the court looks at contact, it won\u2019t usually take unpaid maintenance into account when deciding what\u2019s right for the child.<\/p>\n
So using contact as leverage rarely leads to the outcome people are hoping for.<\/p>\n
If maintenance isn\u2019t being paid, there are ways to deal with that directly.<\/p>\n
The Child Maintenance Service can step in to assess what should be paid and, if needed, take action to collect it.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not always a quick fix, but it\u2019s the proper route and it avoids things becoming more complicated on the contact side.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re in the middle of it, it\u2019s easy for everything to feel tangled together.<\/p>\n
Taking a step back and dealing with each issue on its own can make things feel a bit clearer. It also tends to lead to better outcomes in the long run, especially where children are involved.<\/p>\n
At Lund Bennett Family Law, we speak to parents on both sides of this situation.<\/p>\n
Some are worried about unpaid maintenance. Others are concerned about contact being restricted. Often, it\u2019s a mix of both.<\/p>\n
Wherever you\u2019re coming from, we\u2019ll talk things through clearly and help you understand what your options are (without adding to the stress).<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re unsure where you stand, or things don\u2019t feel fair or clear, you\u2019re always welcome to get in touch.<\/p>\n
Sometimes just understanding how it works can make a difficult situation feel a bit more manageable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s something that comes up a lot. \u201cIf they\u2019re not paying, why should they get to see the kids?\u201d Or from the other side \u2014 \u201cWhy should I pay if I\u2019m not being allowed to see them?\u201d When things feel unfair, it\u2019s a very natural reaction to link the two. But legally, they\u2019re treated as… Read More »Can You Stop Contact If Your Ex Doesn\u2019t Pay Child Maintenance?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[483],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-child-maintenance"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1589"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1590,"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions\/1590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lundbennett.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}