Capitalising child maintenance: commutation lump sum

Following the case of AZ v FM [2021] EWFC 2, child maintenance can also be ‘capitalised’, similarly to spousal maintenance. In this case, Mostyn J confirmed that the court has jurisdiction to order child maintenance payments to be ‘capitalised’, meaning that future periodical payments can be replaced by one lump sum. He called this a “commutation lump sum” and emphasised that this would only happen in extremely rare circumstances. In this case, the following facts justified a commutation lump sum: 

• There had been “incessant litigation” between the parties and the husband had repeatedly defaulted on the maintenance payments 

• The parties’ daughter was 19 and the child maintenance payments were to end once she left university 

• The husband was habitually resident in the US and so the Child Maintenance Service did not have jurisdiction 

The full scope and application of the court’s power to capitalise child maintenance has not yet been fully defined, but it seems it may an effective enforcement mechanism in cases where the paying parent has defaulted on payments and lives outside the UK, rendering other tools of enforcement ineffective. In cases like this, it is also more desirable for the court to end the financial ties between the parties, given the costs incurred by "incessant litigation”.

If your ex has asked you to pay your child maintenance in a lump sum, or they have defaulted on their payments and you would like them to pay you a lump sum, contact Vardags today for a free initial consultation with one of our specialist family and divorce solicitors.         

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