Consent Order (a type of court order in England and Wales)
A Consent Order is an official ruling made by a court. To put in place a Consent Order, both parents need to agree how much child maintenance is going to be paid and how often.
You can do this either privately between yourselves or through solicitors. You can then apply to the court to turn this agreement into a Consent Order. But you should be aware that a Consent Order about child maintenance almost always happens only when people are going to court for other reasons, such as arranging a divorce or dividing property or other assets.
After this, if the parent without the main day-to-day care fails to pay the child maintenance agreed in the Consent Order, the court can enforce payment. During the first 12 months of a Consent Order, you cannot ask the CSA to put an arrangement in place for you.
You should be aware that putting in place a Consent Order does involve legal costs, such as solicitor and court fees. Legal aid will not cover these costs if you are only going to court to get a Consent Order for child maintenance.
Minute of Agreement (in Scotland)
Things are slightly different in Scotland. If you can make a private agreement with the other parent (usually with help from solicitors), it can be made into a contract called a Minute of Agreement. This can be registered to make it legally binding. If the parent without the main day-to-day care fails to pay the child maintenance agreed in the Minute of Agreement, a sheriff officer (the Scottish equivalent of a bailiff) can collect and enforce payments.
