Once this is factored in, payments are calculated based upon a percentage of the non resident parents income.

The unlikely to pay check is a decision made by a Caseworker for each individual case using their judgement based on their merits.

"[4] Child maintenance fees are typically based on various factors,[6] including the income of the parents, number of children, and specific guidelines or laws in your jurisdiction.

[9] In November 2020 information came to light from Freedom of Information Act requests, which led to allegations that as many as 1,000 statistically excess deaths, believed to be suicide, are linked to the actions of the Child Maintenance Service each year.

[10] In June 2020 a group of 4 receiving parents (4 single mothers), initiated a legal action against the CMS to ""challenge the persistent failure" of the Child Maintenance Service."