Child Maintenance Service (CMS)

A government body set up to take responsibility for administering the 2012 gross income statutory child maintenance scheme. The CMS began accepting a limited intake of new cases under the gross income scheme, where the paying and receiving parent have four or more children together, from 10 December 2012. The phased introduction of the CMS and gross income scheme continued until 25 November 2013. From this date, the CMS became fully operational and began accepting all new applications for statutory child maintenance.

The CMS replaced the Child Support Agency entirely on 31 December 2018, when all existing cases determined under the original and net income schemes were transferred to the gross income scheme and the CMS. The transition of these existing cases began on 30 June 2014.

For more information, see Practice note, Calculating statutory child maintenance: the new gross income scheme.