Child maintenance and financial support

What should a maintenance discussion address?

Start with who needs support, the basis of the request and the current arrangements. Child maintenance concerns the child’s needs and the relevant financial circumstances. Financial provision between spouses can raise different questions and should be reviewed under the applicable marriage and family law.

A useful first account explains the regular expenses, who currently pays them, any shortfall and the proposed arrangement. Avoid relying only on a round figure. A clear budget helps identify what is disputed and the evidence needed.

Read our main children’s law guide for related care and contact issues, and marriage and divorce advice where spousal provision is involved.

Which financial records should I prepare?

Organise the information by expense and payment period. Distinguish regular costs from one-off or exceptional expenditure.

• School fees, learning materials and necessary transport.
• Food, clothing, housing and day-to-day care expenses.
• Medical costs and any additional needs.
• Income information lawfully available to you.
• Payments already made, with receipts or transfer records.
• Existing agreements, orders and correspondence about support.
• A clear account of any arrears and how you calculated them.

Tell us about uncertainty or missing documents. Do not access another person’s private accounts without authority. If disclosure is needed, the appropriate legal route should be considered.

There is no single figure on this page that can determine a particular family’s entitlement or liability. The applicable framework, evidence and circumstances must be assessed before advising on an amount or proposed application.

What if payments have stopped or circumstances have changed?

Provide the exact agreement or court order, not only a summary of it. Record the amounts due, payments received and dates. Explain whether the difficulty is non-payment, disagreement about the terms or a material change in circumstances.

Loss of income, increased needs or a new care arrangement may require advice about an appropriate change. A person should not assume that reducing payments informally changes an existing obligation. Equally, an increase in expenses does not automatically establish a new enforceable amount.

The available response may involve negotiation, an application concerning the arrangement or enforcement. Which route is suitable depends on the document, applicable law and evidence. Ask how any proposed agreement should be recorded and whether further formal steps are needed.

Does a support dispute decide custody or contact?

Financial support and a child’s care arrangements are connected in everyday life but require separate legal consideration. Do not assume that withholding payment or contact is a lawful response to the other parent’s conduct.

If both issues are disputed, explain them together so that advice can address the whole situation while keeping the child’s needs in focus. See custody and contact arrangements for preparing a practical parenting proposal.

What if a parent or an order is overseas?

Identify where each person lives, where payments are made and which court issued any order. Recognition, jurisdiction and recovery may require advice in more than one country. An overseas order should not be assumed to operate automatically in The Gambia.

Provide foreign court papers and the details of any lawyer already acting. Translation or formal copies may be required, but check the requirements before commissioning them. Our cross-border family guide explains how the Gambian and overseas work can be considered together.

Discuss the likely benefit, immediate needs and budget before proceedings. The first stage might be document review and advice on options. Later negotiation, an application or enforcement should have a clear agreed scope.

Prepare a child-focused expense schedule

Separate regular costs from one-off or occasional expenses. Record the item, amount, frequency, payer and supporting evidence. Include payments already made directly to a school, healthcare provider or another supplier so that they are not overlooked or counted twice.

Explain changes such as a new school, medical need, loss of income or altered living arrangements. If costs are paid in different currencies, identify the original currency and the basis of any conversion rather than mixing totals.

Keep the financial discussion distinct from contact arrangements. An expense schedule supports a review of needs and contributions; it does not determine the legal amount payable or replace an existing order. Ask how a proposed change should be addressed lawfully.

Related guidance

• Children’s law services
• Custody and contact
• Cross-border family matters