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The Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992

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Version Superseded: 01/07/2022

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Point in time view as at 02/04/2018. This version of this provision has been superseded. Help about Status

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There are currently no known outstanding effects for the The Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992, Section 1. Help about Changes to Legislation

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992 and shall come into force on 5th April 1993.

(2) In these Regulations unless the context otherwise requires—

“the Act" means the Child Support Act 1991;

[F1“care home” [F2in England] has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 of the Care Standards Act 2000;]

[F3care home service” [F4in Wales means a care home service within the meaning of Part 1 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 which is provided wholly or mainly to persons aged 18 or over and in Scotland] has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph 2 of schedule 12 to the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010;]

[F5“Child Benefit Rates Regulations" means the Child Benefit and Social Security (Fixing and Adjustment of Rates) Regulations 1976;]

[F6“child tax credit” means a child tax credit under section 8 of the Tax Credits Act 2002;]

“claimant" means a claimant for income support;

[F7clinical commissioning group” means a body established under section 14D of the National Health Service Act 2006;]

[F8“contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance” means an allowance under the Jobseekers Act as amended by the provisions of Part 1 of Schedule 14 to the Welfare Reform Act 2012 that remove references to an income-based allowance, and a contribution-based allowance under the Jobseekers Act as that Act has effect apart from those provisions;]

“Contributions and Benefits Act" means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992M1;

[F9“Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act" means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992;]

F10...

[F11“couple” means—

(a)two people who are married to, or civil partners of, each other and are members of the same household; or

(b)two people who are not married to, or civil partners of, each other but are living together as a married couple;]

“course of advanced education" means

(a)a full-time course leading to a postgraduate degree or comparable qualification, a first degree or comparable qualification, a Diploma of Higher Education, a higher national diploma, a higher national diploma or higher national certificate of the Business and [F12Technology] Education Council or the Scottish Vocational Education Council or a teaching qualification; or

(b)any other full-time course which is a course of a standard above that of an ordinary national diploma, a national diploma or national certificate of the Business and [F12Technology] Education Council or the Scottish Vocational Education Council, the advanced level of the General Certificate of Education, a Scottish certificate of education (higher level) or a Scottish certificate of sixth year studies;

“covenant income" means the gross income payable to a student under a Deed of Covenant by a parent;

“day" includes any part of a day;

[F13“day to day care” means—

(a)care of not less than 104 nights in total during the 12 month period ending with the relevant week; or

(b)where, in the opinion of the [F14Secretary of State, a period other than 12 months] is more representative of the current arrangements for the care of the child in question, care during that period is not less in total than the number of nights which bears the same ratio to 104 nights as that period bears to 12 months,

and for the purpose of this definition—

(i)where a child is a boarder at a boarding school, or is an in-patient in a hospital, the person who, but for those circumstances, would otherwise provide day to day care of the child shall be treated as providing day to day care during the periods in question;]

[F15(ii) in relation to an application for child support maintenance, “relevant week" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in head (ii) of sub-paragraph (a) of the definition of “relevant week" in this paragraph;]

[F16(iii) in a case where notification is given under regulation 24 of the Maintenance Assessment Procedure Regulations to the relevant persons on different dates, “relevant week" means the period of seven days immediately preceding the date of the latest notification;]

[F17Departure Direction and Consequential Amendments Regulations” means the Child Support Departure Direction and Consequential Amendments Regulations 1996;]

F18...

F19...

“earnings" has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph [F201, 2A or 3], as the case may be, of Schedule 1;

[F21“earnings top-up" means the allowance paid by the Secretary of State under the rules specified in the Earnings Top-up Scheme;

“The Earnings Top-up Scheme" means the Earnings Top-up Scheme 1996;]

“effective date" means the date on which a maintenance assessment takes effect for the purposes of the Act;

“eligible housing costs" shall be construed in accordance with Schedule 3;

“employed earner" has the same meaning as in section 2(1)(a) of the Contributions and Benefits Act [F22except that it shall include a person gainfully employed in Northern Ireland];

[F23“family" means—

(a)[F24a couple] (including the members of a polygamous marriage);

(b)[F24a couple] (including the members of a polygamous marriage) and any child or children living with them for whom at least one member of that couple has day to day care;

(c)where a person who is not a member of [F24a couple] has day to day care of a child or children, that person and any such child or children;

and for the purposes of this definition a person shall not be treated as having day to day care of a child who is a member of that person’s household where the child in question is being looked after by a local authority within the meaning of section 22 of the Children Act 1989 or, in Scotland, where the child is boarded out with that person by a local authority under the provisions of section 21 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968;]

F19...

“grant" means any kind of educational grant or award and includes any scholarship, exhibition, allowance or bursary but does not include a payment made under section 100 of the Education Act 1944M2 or section 73 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980M3;

“grant contribution" means any amount which a Minister of the Crown or an education authority treats as properly payable by another person when assessing the amount of a student’s grant and by which that amount is, as a consequence, reduced;

“home" means—

(a)the dwelling in which a person and any family of his normally live; or

(b)if he or they normally live in more than one home, the principal home of that person and any family of his,

and for the purpose of determining the principal home in which a person normally lives no regard shall be had to residence in [F25a care home or an independent hospital or to the provision of a care home service or an independent health care service] during a period which does not exceed 52 weeks or, where it appears to the [F26Secretary of State] that the person will return to his principal home after that period has expired, such longer period as [F27the Secretary of State] considers reasonable to allow for the return of that person to that home;

“housing benefit" has the same meaning as in section 130 of the Contributions and Benefits Act;

[F28Housing Benefit Regulations” means the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006;]

[F29Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations” means the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006;]

“Income Support Regulations" means the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987M4;

[F30“independent health care service” has the meaning assigned to it by section 10F(1)(a) and (b) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;]

[F31“independent hospital”—

(a)in England, means a hospital as defined by section 275 of the National Health Service Act 2006 that is not a health service hospital as defined by that section; and

(b)in Wales, has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000;]

[F32“Independent Living (1993) Fund” means the charitable trust of that name established by a deed made between the Secretary of State for Social Security of the one part and Robin Glover Wendt and John Fletcher Shepherd of the other part;]

[F33“Independent Living Fund (2006)” means the Trust of that name established by a deed dated 10th April 2006 and made between the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of the one part and Margaret Rosemary Cooper, Michael Beresford Boyall and Marie Theresa Martin of the other part;]

[F34“Independent Living (Extension) Fund” means the charitable trust of that name established by a deed made between the Secretary of State for Social Security of the one part and Robin Glover Wendt and John Fletcher Shepherd of the other part;]

[F35“the Jobseekers Act" means the Jobseekers Act 1995;]

“Maintenance Assessment Procedure Regulations" means the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations 1992M5;

F36...

“non-dependant"means a person who is a non-dependant for the purposes of either—

(a)regulation 3 of the Income Support Regulations; or

[F37(b)regulation 3 of the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be, regulation 3 of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations;]

or who would be a non-dependant for those purposes if another member of the household in which he is living were entitled to income support or housing benefit as the case may be;

F38...

“occupational pension scheme" has the same meaning as in section [F39section 1 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993];

“ordinary clothing or footwear" means clothing or footwear for normal daily use, but does not include school uniforms, or clothing or footwear used solely for sporting activities;

“parent with care" means a person who, in respect of the same child or children, is both a parent and a person with care;

“partner" means—

(a)in relation to a member of [F40a couple] who are living together, the other member of that couple;

(b)in relation to a member of a polygamous marriage, any other member of that marriage with whom he lives;

“patient" means a person (other than a person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment or detention in a young offender institution within the meaning of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 M6 as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1988 M7) who is regarded as receiving free in-patient treatment within the meaning of the Social Security (Hospital In-Patients) Regulations 1975M8;

[F41“pensionable age” has the meaning given by the rules in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 1995;]

“person" does not include a local authority;

“personal pension scheme" has the same meaning as in [F42section 1 of the Pensions Schemes Act 1993] and, in the case of a self-employed earner, includes a scheme approved by the Inland Revenue under Chapter IV of Part XIV of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988M9;

“polygamous marriage" means any marriage during the subsistence of which a party to it is married to more than one person and in respect of which any ceremony of marriage took place under the law of a country which at the time of that ceremony permitted polygamy;

F43...

“prisoner" means a person who is detained in custody pending trial or sentence upon conviction or under a sentence imposed by a court other than a person whose detention is under the Mental Health Act 1983 M10 or [F44Part 5, 6 or 7 or section 136 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 or section 52D or 52M of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995];

[F45“profit-related pay" means any payment by an employer calculated by reference to actual or anticipated profits;]

[F46“qualifying age for state pension credit” means—

(a)in the case of a woman, pensionable age; or

(b)in the case of a man, the age which is pensionable age in the case of a woman born on the same day as the man;]

[F47“qualifying transfer” has the meaning assigned to it in Schedule 3A;]

“relevant child" means a child of an absent parent or a parent with care who is a member of the same family as that parent;

“relevant Schedule" means Schedule 2 to the Income Support Regulations (income support applicable amounts);

[F48“relevant week" means—

(a)in relation to an application for child support maintenance—

(i)in the case of the applicant, the period of seven days immediately preceding the date on which the appropriate maintenance assessment application form (being an effective application within the meaning of regulation 2(4) of the Maintenance Assessment Procedure Regulations) is submitted to the Secretary of State;

(ii)in the case of a person to whom a maintenance assessment enquiry form is given or sent as the result of such an application, the period of seven days immediately preceding the date on which that form is given or sent to him or, as the case may be, the date on which it is treated as having been given or sent to him under regulation 1(6)(b) of the Maintenance Assessment Procedure Regulations;

(b)where a decision (“the original decision") is to be—

(i)revised under section 16 of the Act; or

(ii)superseded by a decision under section 17 of the Act on the basis that the original decision was made in ignorance of, or was based upon a mistake as to some material fact or was erroneous in point of law,

the period of seven days which was the relevant week for the purposes of the original decision;

(c)where a decision (“the original decision") is to be superseded by a decision under section 17 of the Act—

(i)on an application made for the purpose on the basis that a material change of circumstances has occurred since the original decision was made, the period of seven days immediately preceding the date on which that application was made;

(ii)subject to paragraph (b), in a case where a relevant person is given notice under regulation 24 of the Maintenance Assessment Procedure Regulations, the period of seven days immediately preceding the date of that notification;

except that where, under paragraph 15 of Schedule 1 to the Act, the Secretary of State makes separate maintenance assessments in respect of different periods in a particular case, because he is aware of one or more changes of circumstances which occurred after the date which is applicable to that case under paragraph (a), (b) or (c) the relevant week for the purposes of each separate assessment made to take account of each such change of circumstances, shall be the period of seven days immediately preceding the date on which notification was given to the Secretary of State of the change of circumstances relevant to that separate maintenance assessment;]

F38...

“retirement annuity contract" means an annuity contract for the time being approved by the Board of Inland Revenue as having for its main object the provision of a life annuity in old age or the provision of an annuity for a partner or dependant and in respect of which relief from income tax may be given on any premium;

“self-employed earner" has the same meaning as in section 2(1)(b) of the Contributions and Benefits Act [F49except that it shall include a person gainfully employed in Northern Ireland otherwise than in employed earner’s employment (whether or not he is also employed in such employment)];

[F50“state pension credit” means the social security benefit of that name payable under the State Pension Credit Act 2002;]

“student" means a person, other than a person in receipt of a training allowance, who is aged less than 19 and attending a full-time course of advanced education or who is aged 19 or over and attending a full-time course of study at an educational establishment; and for the purposes of this definition—

(a)a person who has started on such a course shall be treated as attending it throughout any period of term or vacation within it, until the last day of the course or such earlier date as he abandons it or is dismissed from it;

(b)a person on a sandwich course (within the meaning of paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 5 to the [F51Education (Mandatory Awards) (No. 2) Regulations 1993]) shall be treated as attending a full-time course of advanced education or, as the case may be, of study;

“student loan" means a loan which is made to a student pursuant to arrangements made under section 1 of the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990M11;

F52...

“training allowance" has the same meaning as in regulation 2 of the Income Support Regulations;

[F53“universal credit” means universal credit under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012;]

F36...

“weekly council tax" means the annual amount of the council tax in question payable in respect of the year in which the effective date falls, divided by 52;

[F54the Welfare Reform Act” means the Welfare Reform Act 2007;]

[F55work-based training for young people or, in Scotland, Skillseekers training]" means—

(a)arrangements made under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973 M12 or section 2 of the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990M13; or

(b)arrangements made by the Secretary of State for persons enlisted in Her Majesty’s forces for any special term of service specified in regulations made under section 2 of the Armed Forces Act 1966 M14 (power of Defence Council to make regulations as to engagement of persons in regular forces);

for purposes which include the training of persons who, at the beginning of their training, are under the age of 18.

[F56“working tax credit” means a working tax credit under section 10 of the Tax Credits Act 2002;]

“year" means a period of 52 weeks;

[F57(2A) Where any provision of these Regulations requires the income of a person to be estimated and that or any other provision of these Regulations requires that the amount of such estimated income is to be taken into account for any purpose after deducting from it a sum in respect of income tax or of primary Class 1 contributions under the Contributions and Benefits Act [F58or, as the case may be, the Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act] or of contributions paid by that person towards an occupational or personal pension scheme, then [F59subject to sub-paragraph (e)]

(a)the amount to be deducted in respect of income tax shall be calculated by applying to that income the rates of income tax applicable at the [F60relevant week] less only the personal relief to which that person is entitled under Chapter 1 of Part VII of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (personal relief); but if the period in respect of which that income is to be estimated is less than a year, the amount of the personal relief deductible under this sub-paragraph shall be calculated on a pro rata basis [F61and the amount of income to which each tax rate applies shall be determined on the basis that the ratio of that amount to the full amount of the income to which each tax rate applies is the same as the ratio of the proportionate part of that personal relief to the full personal relief];

(b)the amount to be deducted in respect of Class 1 contributions under the Contributions and Benefits Act [F58or, as the case may be, the Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act] shall be calculated by applying to that income the appropriate primary percentage applicable in the relevant week; and

(c)the amount to be deducted in respect of contributions paid by that person towards an occupational F62... pension scheme shall be one-half of the sums so [F63paid; and]]

[F64(d)the amount to be deducted in respect of contributions towards a personal pension scheme shall be one half of the contributions paid by that person or, where that scheme is intended partly to provide a capital sum to discharge a mortgage secured on that person’s home, 37.5 per centum of those contributions;

(e)in relation to any bonus or commission which may be included in that person’s income—

(i)the amount to be deducted in respect of income tax shall be calculated by applying to the gross amount of that bonus or commission the rate or rates of income tax applicable in the relevant week;

(ii)the amount to be deducted in respect of primary Class 1 contributions under the Contributions and Benefit Act [F58or, as the case may be, the Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act] F65... shall be calculated by applying to the gross amount of that bonus or commission the appropriate main primary percentage applicable in the relevant week [F66but no deduction shall be made in respect of the portion (if any) of the bonus or commission which, if added to estimated income, would cause such income to exceed the upper earnings limit for Class 1 contributions as provided for in section 5(1)(b) of the Contributions and Benefits Act [F58or, as the case may be, the Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act]]; and

(iii)the amount to be deducted in respect of contributions paid by that person in respect of the gross amount of that bonus or commission towards an occupational pension scheme shall be one half of any sum so paid.]

[F67(2B) For the purposes of these Regulations, where a person has made an election under section 13A(1) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (election not to receive child benefit) for payments of child benefit not to be made—

(a)that person is to be treated as being in receipt of child benefit; and

(b)the amount of child benefit that would be otherwise paid in respect of the relevant child is to be treated as being in payment.]

(3) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference—

(a)to a numbered Part is to the Part of these Regulations bearing that number;

(b)to a numbered Schedule is to the Schedule to these Regulations bearing that number;

(c)to a numbered regulation is to the regulation in these Regulations bearing that number;

(d)in a regulation or Schedule to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph in that regulation or Schedule bearing that number;

(e)in a paragraph to a lettered or numbered sub-paragraph is to the sub-paragraph in that paragraph bearing that letter or number.

(4) [F68These Regulations are subject to the provisions of Parts VIII and IX of the Departure Direction and Consequential Amendments Regulations and] the regulations in Part II and the provisions of the Schedules to these Regulations are subject to the regulations relating to special cases in Part III.

Textual Amendments

F11Words in reg. 1(2) substituted (E+W) (13.3.2014) by The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/107), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 14; (S) (16.12.2014) by The Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2004 2014 (S.I. 2014/3229), art. 1(2), Sch. 6 para. 9

F18Words in reg. 1(2) omitted (19.1.1998) b.v.o (S.I. 1996/2907) 68(2) being revoked byThe Child Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/58), regs. 1(2), 30

F44Words in reg. 1(2) substituted (E.W.N.I.) (5.10.2005) by The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2078), art. 1(1), Sch. 2 para. 15; (S) (S.I. 2005/445), Sch. para. 18

Marginal Citations

M4S.I. 1987/1967; the relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1988/663, 1228, 1445, 2022; 1989/534, 1034, 1678; 1990/547, 1168, 1776; 1991/236, 387, 503, 1559.

M8S.I. 1975/555; the relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1977/1693 and 1987/1683.

M121973 c.50; section 2 is substituted by the Employment Act 1988 (c.19), section 25(1).

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