Child Support: Law And Policy

Half Title Page......Page 2
Title Page......Page 4
Title verso......Page 5
Foreword......Page 6
Preface......Page 8
Table of Contents......Page 12
List of Abbreviations......Page 14
List of Tables and Figures......Page 18
Table of Cases......Page 20
Table of Statutues......Page 38
Table of Statutory Instruments......Page 68
Part I......Page 90
Introduction......Page 92
Questions of Definition: ‘Children’ and ‘Parents’......Page 93
The Child’s Right to Child Support......Page 95
The Parental Duty of Child Support......Page 101
Societal Attitudes Towards the Obligation of Child Support......Page 105
Models for Allocating and Quantifying Child Support Liabilities......Page 110
International Norms and National Objectives for Child Support......Page 116
Conclusion......Page 125
Introduction......Page 126
The Origins of the Old Poor Law......Page 129
The Principles of the 1601 Act......Page 131
Amendments to the Old Poor Law......Page 135
The Birth of the New Poor Law......Page 138
The Operation of the New Poor Law......Page 142
The Royal Commission on the Poor Laws of 1909......Page 146
Public Assistance in the Early Twentieth Century......Page 149
Conclusion......Page 152
Introduction......Page 154
Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England......Page 155
The Child Maintenance Obligation and the Early Case Law......Page 159
The Spousal Maintenance Obligation at Common Law......Page 161
The Development of Two Systems of Private Family Law in the Victorian Era......Page 162
The Two Systems of Private Family Law in the First Half of the Twentieth Century......Page 166
Conclusion......Page 170
Introduction......Page 172
The Public Law Dimension of Maintenance After 1948......Page 174
Conclusion......Page 205
The Gestation of the Child Support Act 1991......Page 208
The Early Years of the Agency: A Difficult and Unhappy Birth......Page 215
Early Legislative Changes to the Child Support Formula......Page 222
New Labour and Child Support Reform......Page 226
The Transition From the Old Scheme to the New Scheme......Page 229
The Transfer of Cases from the Old Scheme to the New Scheme......Page 232
Introduction......Page 236
Child Support in the United States......Page 237
Child Support in Canada......Page 252
Child Support in Australia......Page 254
Child Support in New Zealand......Page 265
Conclusion......Page 268
Part II......Page 272
Introduction......Page 274
The Courts and the Child Support Agency: The General Rule......Page 276
Circumstances in Which the Courts Retain Jurisdiction......Page 279
Private Ordering and the Child Support Agency......Page 288
The Relationship Between Maintenance Agreements, Court Orders and Maintenance Calculations......Page 301
The Statutory Duty of Child Support......Page 304
Children and Qualifying Children......Page 306
Parents......Page 313
Persons with Care......Page 337
The Territorial Scope of the Act......Page 339
Introduction......Page 344
Applications under Section 6......Page 345
Applications under Section 4......Page 365
Applications under Section 7......Page 368
Multiple Applications......Page 370
Amendment, Withdrawal or Cancellation of Applications......Page 372
Information and Evidence Gathering Powers......Page 373
Inspectors......Page 380
Criminal Offences......Page 382
Introduction......Page 388
The Four Rates......Page 389
Shared Care......Page 401
Special Cases......Page 412
The Person with Care’s Income......Page 418
The Statutory Cap on the Non-resident Parent’s Income......Page 421
General Rules for Calculating Net Weekly Income......Page 423
Net Weekly Income of Employed Earners......Page 426
Net Weekly Income of Self-employed Earners......Page 440
Income from Tax Credits......Page 447
Other Forms of Income......Page 449
Benefits Pensions and Allowances......Page 450
Introduction......Page 452
Procedural Provisions for Variation Applications......Page 454
The Substantive Grounds for Variation Applications......Page 459
Implementing a Variation and Jurisdictional Issues......Page 490
Introduction......Page 494
Complaints......Page 495
Changing Decisions: Revisions and Supersessions......Page 498
First Tier Appeals: The Tribunals......Page 503
Second Tier Appeals: The Child Support Commissioners......Page 517
Third Tier Appeals: The Court of Appeal and the Court of Session......Page 521
The Residual Role of the Courts in Child Support Appeals......Page 523
Collection......Page 526
Arrears......Page 531
Enforcement......Page 536
Enforcement Measures in the United States......Page 550
Enforcement Measures in Australia......Page 554
Part III......Page 558
Introduction......Page 560
The Coverage of the Current Child Support Arrangements in Practice......Page 563
Levels of Child Support Awards......Page 565
Child Support Agency Compliance Targets and Outcomes......Page 569
The Research Evidence on Compliance......Page 571
Building a Compliance Model......Page 575
Reform Option 1: A Guaranteed Maintenance Scheme?......Page 580
Reform Option 2: A Return to the Courts and MorePrivate Ordering?......Page 582
Reform Option 3: Changes to Child Support Law?......Page 586
Conclusion......Page 598
Index......Page 600