Child Maintenance Service Liability Orders

A full guide to understanding, challenging and appealing a CMS liability order, including the laws, court powers, evidence people should obtain and the important distinction between challenging an alleged debt and challenging the underlying maintenance calculation.

What is a CMS liability order?

A liability order is an enforcement order relating to unpaid child maintenance. Under the current court-based system, the Child Maintenance Service can apply to the Magistrates' Court where it alleges that maintenance has become payable and has not been paid.

The most important legal distinction

This means someone can easily take a genuine complaint to the wrong legal forum.

For example, simply telling magistrates:

may amount to asking the magistrates to reconsider the maintenance calculation, which section 33(4) generally prevents them from doing.

A more focused liability-order issue may be:

CMS does not automatically win because its computer shows a balance

The legal test is not simply whether the CMS computer account displays an arrears figure.

The court must consider the statutory requirements under section 33.

A person should therefore ask for a period-by-period account rather than simply accepting a single headline balance.

What evidence should you ask CMS to provide?

• Full statement of account.
• Complete arrears schedule.
• Maintenance due for each period.
• The decision creating each liability.
• Effective date of each decision.
• Every payment CMS says it received.
• The date each payment was received.
• Where every payment was allocated.
• Running balance after each transaction.
• Collect & Pay fees and other collection charges.
• Enforcement charges.
• Credits and adjustments.
• Refunds or reversals.
• Any written-off amounts.
• Previous liability orders.
• Deduction from Earnings Order history.
• Employer deduction records.
• Tribunal decisions affecting the liability.
• Supersession or revision decisions.
• CSA-to-CMS transfer records where historic arrears are involved.

Check every payment

One of the strongest forms of evidence in a disputed-arrears case can be proof that payments CMS says were unpaid were actually made.

Useful evidence can include:

• bank statements;
• standing-order confirmations;
• Direct Pay records;
• receipts;
• employer wage slips;
• Deduction from Earnings Order records;
• CMS payment statements;
• letters acknowledging payments.

Historic CSA arrears

Extra care should be taken where CMS says the debt was originally created under the former Child Support Agency.

Ask for:

• The original CSA assessment or maintenance decision.
• The dates covered by that assessment.
• The CSA opening arrears balance.
• The complete CSA payment history.
• Adjustments and corrections.
• The final CSA closing balance.
• The amount formally transferred to CMS.
• The date the balance was transferred.
• Evidence showing how that amount entered the CMS account.
• Details of any previous enforcement of the same arrears.

Duplicate arrears and previous liability orders

Check whether any part of the alleged arrears has already appeared in another enforcement process.

Compare:

• previous liability orders;
• current liability-order applications;
• CSA transferred balances;
• Deduction from Earnings Orders;
• lump-sum deduction orders;
• regular deduction orders;
• CMS statements.

Keep every previous order and enforcement statement so that periods can be compared.

What if the underlying CMS calculation is wrong?

This is where the separate challenge route becomes important.

Issues concerning income, shared care or another part of the maintenance calculation normally need to be challenged through the statutory CMS decision process.

Disputes may involve:

• HMRC income;
• historic income;
• current income;
• shared care;
• relevant other children;
• qualifying children;
• variations;
• unearned income;
• diversion of income;
• effective dates;
• revision decisions;
• supersession decisions.

If an appeal about the maintenance calculation is already underway

This can be important where a liability-order application concerns arrears that may change depending upon the outcome of the statutory appeal.

The Financial Remedies Journal article by HHJ Andrew Greensmith discusses the authorities including Farley and Donaghy, and the circumstances in which an adjournment may need to be considered.

A person could explain:

Important case law

Recent Upper Tribunal decision – ROE [2026] UKUT 283 (AAC)

The Upper Tribunal decision in ROE v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions & IAL (CSM) [2026] UKUT 283 (AAC) concerned a variation and alleged diversion of income rather than a liability-order appeal.

It nevertheless illustrates the wider importance of decision-makers applying the actual statutory test to the evidence and adequately explaining why the legal conditions are satisfied.

If CMS changes the calculation later

Check whether a revised, superseded or tribunal decision has changed the maintenance payable for a period included in enforcement.

For example:

Compare the old liability, new liability, payments already made and the genuine remaining balance.

Section 2 – welfare of children

Section 2 of the Child Support Act 1991 requires the Secretary of State, when exercising discretionary functions under the Act, to have regard to the welfare of any child likely to be affected.

However, where CMS is exercising a discretionary power, relevant consequences for children may form part of the circumstances CMS should consider.

Liability order already made? Act quickly.

There is a statutory appeal route from a Magistrates' Court liability-order decision.

Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 – Section 111A

HHJ Greensmith's guidance explains that liability-order appeals under this route are dealt with by a Circuit Judge of the Family Court.

Do not wait for CMS to start the next stage of enforcement before considering the appeal.

What documents should you obtain for an appeal?

• The liability order.
• The Magistrates' Court decision/order.
• The legal adviser's note of the hearing.
• The original CMS application.
• The documents CMS relied upon.
• Your documents and evidence.
• Your payment evidence.
• The hearing notice.
• Any transcript or official note available.
• Any tribunal documentation relevant to the debt.

Possible appeal issues

Every case is different, but issues potentially requiring consideration can include the following.

1. The statutory test was not established

The evidence did not establish that the payments covered by the application became payable and remained unpaid.

2. Payments were ignored

Documentary evidence showed that some or all of the alleged arrears had already been paid.

3. CMS relied on an unsupported account balance

The alleged figure was not adequately reconciled to the relevant maintenance decisions and payments.

4. Material evidence was not properly considered

Evidence directly relevant to whether the debt was outstanding was not properly addressed.

5. Procedural unfairness

A party was not given a fair opportunity to see or respond to important evidence.

6. An underlying appeal was unresolved

Depending on the facts, an argument may arise that the court should have considered whether an adjournment was appropriate.

7. Wrong legal test

The court may have misunderstood or failed properly to apply the requirements of section 33.

Ask about a stay of enforcement

Filing an appeal should not simply be assumed to automatically stop all enforcement.

Depending upon the circumstances, an appellant may need to ask the court for a stay of enforcement pending determination of the appeal.

The court will determine whether a stay should be granted on the facts of the particular case.

Article 6 – right to a fair hearing

Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to a fair hearing in the determination of civil rights and obligations.

Potential procedural issues could include:

• not being provided with evidence relied upon;
• not being given a meaningful opportunity to respond;
• material documents not being considered;
• serious procedural irregularity;
• problems affecting the effective exercise of a statutory appeal right.

What can happen after a liability order?

A liability order can open the way to stronger CMS enforcement powers, subject to the legal requirements applying to each enforcement method.

These can include:

• enforcement agents;
• taking control of goods;
• charging orders against property;
• orders for sale;
• further court enforcement;
• driving-licence disqualification in applicable cases;
• passport-related sanctions in applicable cases;
• committal proceedings in serious cases.

Liability orders can also have consequences beyond immediate enforcement.

The law is changing – administrative liability orders

Parliament passed the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023, which provides for a future administrative liability-order system.

The legislation is intended to allow CMS, once the relevant provisions are brought fully into operation, to make liability orders administratively rather than having to obtain every order through the Magistrates' Court.

Key legislation to know

Family Procedure Rules – appeals

Liability-order appeals also need to be considered alongside the Family Procedure Rules and relevant Practice Directions.

Emergency court checklist

• Read the liability-order application carefully.
• Write down exactly how much CMS says is owed.
• Identify the exact dates covered.
• Obtain every maintenance decision covering those dates.
• Obtain your complete CMS payment history.
• Check every payment against your bank statements.
• Check employer deductions.
• Check standing-order payments.
• Check Direct Pay payments.
• Check whether CMS allocated payments correctly.
• Check previous liability orders.
• Check for duplicated arrears.
• Check historic CSA arrears carefully.
• Check later revised or superseded decisions.
• Check tribunal decisions.
• Identify any current Mandatory Reconsideration or appeal.
• Prepare a simple chronological payment table.
• Send relevant evidence to the court in accordance with court directions.
• Take organised copies to the hearing.
• Clearly state exactly what you are asking the court to do.

A useful way to explain the dispute to the Magistrates' Court

Then explain exactly why the amount is disputed and point the court to the documents supporting that argument.

If CMS cannot explain the balance

Ask for a proper reconciliation.

Where important evidence is missing, a person may ask the court to consider whether an adjournment is necessary so that the evidence can be produced.

Arguments that usually will not stop a liability order

Arguments such as these are generally not valid defences:

• "I never signed a contract with CMS."
• "I do not consent to CMS jurisdiction."
• "CMS is registered as a company."
• "The Magistrates' Court must recalculate my maintenance."
• "I cannot afford the arrears so the debt cannot exist."

Child maintenance liability arises from statute, not from an ordinary private contract.

Concentrate instead on the legislation, payment evidence, accounting records, tribunal decisions and procedural fairness.

The two-track approach

If a liability order has just been made

1Obtain the order.

2Ask for the legal adviser's note.

3Identify the legal grounds of appeal.

4 Check the 21-day appeal deadline immediately.

5 Use the correct appeal procedure, normally including Form N161.

6 Consider whether you also need to request a stay of enforcement.

The key legal principle

Understanding this distinction can stop someone from presenting the right evidence to the wrong court.

Official and legal sources

Important legal notice

This page provides general legal information and is intended to help people understand the CMS liability-order process. It is not individual legal advice.

Liability-order proceedings can lead to serious enforcement consequences and appeal deadlines may be short. Anyone facing active proceedings should seek independent legal advice where possible.

Laws and procedures can change. Always check the legislation and official court guidance applying at the date of your case.