Under the law in England and Wales, if you are a child’s biological parent but you are not named on their birth certificate, you may still be required to pay child maintenance / child support. If you disagree with the child’s parentage, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) may ask for proof from either parent, request a DNA test or ask the court to decide. The following explains whether you will need to pay child maintenance when you are not named on the birth certificate and what happens to child maintenance payments if there is a dispute regarding parentage.
Paying child maintenance when you’re not on the birth certificate
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) may assume you are the child’s parent, even if you are not named on their birth certificate if:
- You were married to, or the civil partner of, the child’s mother between the child being conceived and the child’s birth. The exception to this is if the child is adopted.
- A DNA test proves that you are the child’s parent.
- You legally adopted the child.
- You are named in a Court Order as the parent if the child was born to a surrogate mother.
If you disagree with the decision of the Child Maintenance Service, you may not need to pay child support payments while the child’s parentage is being disputed. If you disagree that you are the parent of a child when the CMS believes that you are, speak to our family law solicitors to discuss your case. We will listen to the details of your situation, ask some questions to understand your legal position and explain what you can do to challenge their decision.
If you are proven to be the biological parent
If you are proven to be the biological parent of the child and you are not responsible for the day-to-day care of the child, you will need to pay child maintenance. Where a mother or father is confirmed to be the biological parent of the child, the Child Maintenance Service may backdate child support payments. Payments are normally backdated by the CMS when the paternity dispute case was first opened.
If you are proven not to be the biological parent
If you prove that you are not the parent of the child, you will no longer need to pay child maintenance. In addition, the CMS may:
- Issue a refund of any child maintenance payments you have paid for the child since the date you told CMS that you are not the child’s parent.
- Offset the amount that you have paid in child maintenance against any child maintenance you are paying for another child (or children).
- Refund the cost of the DNA test.
- Request that the other parent return any child maintenance you have paid.
If you sign over your parental rights, do you have to pay child support?
It is important to understand that a person with parental responsibility cannot transfer their responsibility to someone else. It is possible, however, to delegate responsibility for child care to someone else (e.g. partner, childminder, teacher, friend, or relative). However, this does not remove parental responsibility. Parental responsibility can be removed from a parent by making an application to the court, but this is only granted in exceptional cases. If you have delegated parental responsibility or it has been removed from you, you will still need to pay child support for the child. This is because, under the law in England and Wales, parental responsibility and child maintenance are treated completely separately.
