Closed petition: Review child maintenance service (CMS) process for accepting reduced payments

Closed on 9 June 2026

Currently, a paying parent can reduce their CMS payments by adding a partner’s child as a “relevant child,” even if that child is not biologically theirs and already receives support from their own parent. We want the Government to review this process.

We call on the Government to review the CMS process for accepting reduced payments to ensure that paying parents aren’t allowed to reduce their payment based on incorrect information. We want the CMS to:

• Require financial disclosure from both adults in the household;
• Verify that any declared dependents are genuinely financially supported by the claimant; and
• Exclude dependents who already receive maintenance from their biological parents.
We believe this will make the CMS fairer and prevent misuse of the system.