The recent child support case of Goodman v Walker in July has caught widespread attention given the level of child support being sought by influencer Lauryn Goodman against professional footballer Kyle Walker for their youngest child, Kinara.
In this case the parties were unmarried and had never even been in a cohabiting relationship. It was also the second set of proceedings issued that sought to build on and extend the provisions made in previous financial proceedings brought in 2022 for their son, Kairo.
Nevertheless, Goodman was able to secure a number of awards including housing provision, child maintenance, additional payments for a nanny, new furniture and home improvements, nursery and school fees for the children, a replacement car every few years and payment of her legal costs for bringing the court proceedings.
She was able to so under Schedule 1 of the Children Act, under which claims can be brought for maintenance orders, property orders and capital orders for the benefit of a child.
What does the law say?
Currently, unmarried couples do not have the same legal rights as married couples upon a separation.
As the law in England and Wales currently stands, parties acquire no common law marriage rights in this country simply by living together or having children together, and have no automatic entitlement to financial support for themselves upon a separation.
Where parents are unmarried, financial claims are often limited to seeking financial provision for any minor children of the family.
In England and Wales, it will not come as a surprise that a non-resident parent (the parent with whom a child does not primarily live) has financial responsibilities towards their children and that child maintenance will be payable in most cases.
Child maintenance will either be dealt with through the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) or the court under Schedule 1 of the Children Act depending on the level of income of the paying parent.
Where the paying parent’s gross salary is under £156,000, maintenance will usually be dealt with by the CMS or agreed between the parties with reference to the statutory child maintenance formula.
The calculation itself is straightforward and is based on the paying party’s gross salary, the number of nights per week the children stay with each parent and how many children are involved.
Where the non-resident parent’s gross annual salary is over £156,000, the case is pushed into ‘top-up territory’ and the court has jurisdiction to make child maintenance orders under Schedule 1 of the Children Act if appropriate to do so.
Where the paying parent’s gross annual income is between £156,000 and £650,000, the starting point for the court had previously been to use the CMS formula as if the £156,000 income cap did not apply.
Since the recent 2023 case of James v Seymour, the current recommended starting approach uses a different formula, which now looks at other factors including the amount of school fees and extras being paid by the non-resident parent.
